Fated Meeting
by Sonata523
Summary: Never before had I met someone as alluring as him.His eyes shone in a strange ochre color, His long hair tumbled down, framing his face. The way his lips curled when he spoke my name in that southern drawl. I didn't understand Jasper Hale,or the way that I was undeniably drawn to him.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N** **: Hey! This is my first attempt at fanfiction, so I'm still figuring out how everything works. This chapter has been edited and re-uploaded. I hope you like it! Feel free to leave a review, it would make my day**

This sucked. Not even a little bit, I had decided. Not even the way in which things suck just a tiny, little bit. Yes, I was completely sure that the nearly four hour drive from the Seattle- Tacoma international airport sucked. This drive was only in addition to the five hour flight from my home state of Vermont.

My parents had tried to ease my impatience throughout the trip with the occasional "we're almost there, Ana," or a sympathetic look in the rear view mirror.

Sure, I had been excited when my father had told us that we would be starting anew in a different town, in a different state.

What had originally failed to occur to me, however, was that this different town in this different state happened to be across the country. I did of course understand their reasons for moving to the perpetually gray town of Forks, Washington. Money had been tight, and my father's job opportunities slim, and the house suffocating beneath the constant financial stress. Then of course, there had been another reason.

The house I had grown up in had seemed a bit empty since last summer. It was truly barren without the tinkling laughter and constant presense of my sister, Virginia. Virginia had died in a car accident a few years back. I had been with her, actually, riding in the passangers seat when it happened. I could hardly be certain, though, as I had very little memory of the incident.

The only proof of my presence was a foggy memory of screeching tires, and then darkness. I had, apparently, been rendered unconscious upon impact, waking up almost a day and a half later with no recollection of the accident.

It had stumped the doctors, how my body recovered from the intense car crash so efficiently. I had been told time and time again that it was a miracle I had not been crushed and killed in the wreck, and even luckier that I was not paralyzed. The only physical reminder of my envolvement was a scar that stretched from the edge of my forehead into my hairline. It had taken quite a lot of time for my hair to grow to cover the stitched area, but it was now onl ypartially visible beneath my wild curls, and one could only really make it out if my hair was parted just so. It was so well hidden, in fact, that I oftentimes forgot it was there.

When reminded of my extrodinary recovery, I was always thankful that I was never concious to see the wreck. It would most likely be too much to bear, seeing my sister's beloved car all mangled.

It was beyond me how my parents had mustered up the strength to tell me that my best friend was gone. It had hit us all hard. The empty room at the end of the hall and constant condolences were both bittersweet and suffocating. I suppose that ever since that deceptively sweet summer night, Our home in Vermont was nothing more than a reminder of what once was.

We all needed a fresh start.

Feeling the familiar tightness in my chest, I pushed it down before it could seize my whole being. Swallowing the powerful lump of emotion that had worked its way into my throat, I reached into the pet carrier settled on the seat next to me and stroked the fat ginger cat, Pudge, that my sister had left behind.

I needed to get a grip on myself. I would not let this dark cloud of grief follow me to Forks. I would be stronger here, happier.

Pressing my forehead against the cool glass of the car window, I looked out into the inky black night. The conversation amongst the family had died down some time ago, leaving a peaceful silence, only penetrated by the gentle tapping of Washington's ever present rainfall. Though moving in the middle of junior year had been less than favorable, I was quite sure that I was looking forward to the change.

With thoughts of the future in mind, I allowed the melodic sounds of the rain and the low rumbling of the car engine to lull me to sleep.

 _XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

 _For weeks, Alice Cullen had been infuriating in her sibling's opinion. Well, namely Jasper._

 _She has been, somehow, exponentially more bubbly than usual. Occasionally, her eyes would glaze over with a dreamy, far away look, before regaining her composure and acting strangely giddy around him. Since the start of these visions, Alice could occasionally be found muttering to herself, tough Jasper had only ever caught bits and pieces that ne could make neither head nor tail of._

 _Every time he questioned her, she would simply brush him off, chastising him for trying to ruin the "surprise". Where one may normally look forward to a surprise, Jasper certainly did not. The last time Alice had hidden a "surprise" from him, it had only been the truly thrilling discovery of a practical joke in which Jasper found numerous breeds of Washington wildlife corralled into his room by Emmett, all of which took a good portion of the day to clear out._

 _Another time, Emmett had, with the help of his pixie like sister, taken great pleasure in decorating the entire space into a classic stereotypical vampiric lair, complete with dark, muted colors, gothic candelabras, garlic braids which had been strewn about at random, and even a live bat. The whole family had taken quite the laugh at his expense for that one, despite the fact that they all experienced vampirism._

 _Being that it had been a considerable amount of time since the last time Jasper was victimized by his bear-like brother, Alice's glee over this particularly mysterious vision had him feeling quite paranoid. He'd even taken to locking his bedroom door, though he knew that if Emmet was really determined to gain entry, a flimsy wooden door wouldn't stand a chance._

 _XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

I was awoken upon hearing the car door slam, and being shook by the gentle hand of her mother, Jen.

She was not an extraordinary woman at first glance, in fact, she was quite ordinary looking. With sandy brown hair that reached her shoulders, and of average height, she seemed quite easy to overlook. However, if one took the time to know her, her warm brown eyes expelled the kindness and comfort only a mother could possess. It was easy to see how my father, John, had become so enraptured with her, so easily.

Where Carter had taken after my mother's appearance, with honeyed skin, sandy hair and liquid brown eyes, I more resembled my father. We shared the same strikingly pale skin, and chestnut hair that was considerably less tame than that of our counterparts. Other than the slight dusting of freckles across my nose, our eyes were one of the few things that differed. Where his were a pleasant grey, mine took after a cloudier, muted jade tone.

Looking upon the new house, I found myself pleasantly surprised. It was bigger than the one we'd had in Vermont, not that that said much. Taller than it was wide, the cornflower blue home had a charming air about it that simply screamed colonial. Adorned with white molding and large, shuttered windows, I found myself quite pleased with the tasteful architecture.

My thoughts on the house were wiped from my mind, however, upon meeting eyes with Carter, who had a challenging, defying look about him.

Without words, we both scrambled into the house at top speed. I could practically feel the disapprovement behind my mother's exasperated sigh, after having spent the better part of our nine hour trip hearing my brother and I arguing over who would pick their room first.

Unfortunately, it turned out that my being older didn't exactly make a difference in the battle for the larger room. Where I had rightfully claimed it mine, Carter seemed to have no qualms with picking me up and dumping me into the smaller of the two rooms. Sometimes it simply didn't benefit to be 5'7, especially when your _baby_ brother had grown to be about twice your size. Carter was inching towards 6' more and more every day.

"Simply unethical," I muttered, before hitting the wall that separated our two bedrooms, knowing he would be able to hear through the seemingly thin barriers.

"This _will_ infringe on your passenger privileges!" I added, knowing how much he would despise the thought of riding the bus to our new school. It didn't seem that my threat had hit home, however, when I simply heard his laughter.

Pacing around my room, I decided it wouldn't be _so_ bad. The walls were painted a dusky purple, and where it was smaller than Carter's, it had a bay window large enough to sit on, with a tall, spindly tree just outside of it.

Beyond that, I was sure that had it not been so dark out, one would be able to see the iconic forests for which Washington State was largely known for. The cherry on top was the dumbfounded look that overtook Carters face when our mother announced that we would be sharing the small bathroom that joined our two rooms. His face alone was enough to warrant a laugh on my part. Luckily, the moving van had arrived quite quickly, allowing us to take the rest of the night to settle in.

Unfortunately, it became apparent to both Carter and I that it was Sunday night. We had both been dreading the start of our time at Forks High School, which loomed ahead of us. Our joint attempts at convincing our mother that we needed time to settle into the new house before going to school proved largely ineffective.

I decided upon a different approach for my last try. "Mom," I rasped, before letting out a slight cough that sounded unconvincing to even my own ears. "I think I've come down with something-"

Before finishing my sentence, I received a harsh look. " _Diana."_ I winced. The full name, never a good sign. I let out a sheepish smile before nodding quickly and hurrying up the stairs.

I was met on the landing with Carter, who could barely maintain his laughter.

"Have you ever considered a career in thespianism?" His newly-deeper laugh rumbling throughout his chest.

I glared, elbowing his side. My anger was faux though, as I contained a laugh myself. "I didn't know you knew such big words, Cart," I teased. "Worked your way up to multiple syllables, huh?"

He jostled me good-humoredly. "Yeah, yeah, good one. Just remember how many embarrassing stories of you I can spread at school. I'm sure they'd spread pretty quick with the size of the student body. I'm pretty sure there are like, fifteen kids in each grade."

Small towns were certainly not a new thing for us, but Forks took it to an extreme. Truth be told, I was a little nervous for the next day.

Usually, I was rather social, but then again, I had never really gone through such an extreme change. I wondered how well I would get on with the residents of Forks. Classes had also caused me a bit of stress, which was silly. I did quite well at my old school, even being put in an AP class or two. I wondered how different the curriculum in such a small school would be.

As if sensing my sudden mood change, Carter patted my shoulder. "Cheer up An, you know you don't have anything to worry about. You know Gina would've said the same," He said, his eyes flashing to a more serious expression.

Hearing Virginia's nickname from when we were kids stung a little, but I knew he was right.

I smiled lightly before shrugging him off my shoulder. "Thanks, Cart." I said as I continued up the stairs. Carter was definitely an ass from time to time, but I didn't know what I would ever do without him.

I sat on the bay window, wringing out my hair as I stared into the night.

Where the thought of walking into Forks High tomorrow was a daunting one, I would be lying If I said that I didn't feel a bit of excitement fizzling through me. The thought of being around new people intrigued me, especially after being cooped up in small towns in Vermont all my life. As I contemplated these new beginnings, a certain uneasiness flooded through me.

The hairs at the back of my neck stood up, as if there were a set of eyes upon me in my small bedroom. I couldn't quite explain it as anything other than instinctual.

"Carter?" called out uncertainly. He did find joy in practical jokes, but this felt a bit different. My brows furrowed a bit as I looked into the night. I saw nothing out of place, but still a slight jolt of fear urged me to tug the curtains closed. the feeling instantly ebbed a way, and I felt a bit silly.

I laughed at myself a bit, shaking my head as I padded to bed.

 _You can't get through one night in a new house without thinking it's haunted? Jeez, grow up Ana. I don't think there's a town in existence more ordinary than Forks._


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Chapter two is out! After writing this chapter, I'm actually really excited to see where this story goes! Don't worry, we will be meeting Jasper soon! Please leave a review! Feedback is always appreciated : ) (edited)**

Awakening to the blaring sound of an alarm clock was unpleasant, yet it was even more so at six in the morning.

I never reallywas a morning person, which may be the understatement of the year. More accurately, I usually had to be physically pulled out of the comfort of my warm bed. But today was different.

Today, January 23rd, 2005 was my first day at Forks high school. A day I had been both anticipating and dreading. I was excited about the thought of a new place with new people, yet the thought of being _'the new girl'_ in such a small school was daunting to say the least.

 _At least I'll have Carter_ , I reminded myself as I pushed my anxieties to the back of my mind. I yawned, shuffling over to my large window and peeking through the curtains only to be met with the sight of thick, grey clouds.

I quite missed waking up to bright sun beams shining in through my windows, which made getting out of bed much easier. I knew that I would probably never wake up under sheets warmed by the sun's rays again.

 _Rain,_ I thought to myself wryly. I almost forgot that rain was invariably present in this little town. I usually loved a nice rainstorm, but the dreary weather certainly wouldn't ever help me get out of bed in the mornings.

 _I should have bid goodbye to the sun for the rest of my natural born life before leaving Vermont._

Luckily, I had the foresight to invest in some quality waterproof boots before the move. I knew they would probably end up being my shoe of choice every day whether I liked it or not.

Where I wasn't normally one to fret over my appearance, I did pull on a nicer forest green sweater that contrasted with my almost concerningly pale skin.

Trying to tame my unmanageably thick hair was the real chore. It was of course sticking out in every which way even more than usual, today of all days. Sometimes I considered it more of a curse than a blessing.

When it seemed my disorderly mess of curls and waves could not be tamed any further, I began my descent downstairs.

on my way down the hall, I landed a solid smack on Carter's door as I passed by to ensure he was awake. I was _not_ trying to attract even more attention to myself today by showing up late to my first day of classes.

I paced anxiously throughout the house after deciding that my nerves had killed whatever appetite I had this morning.

"Carter!" I yelled up the stairs. "We're going to be late!"

His response only came garbled through what seemed like mouthful of toothpaste. I huffed, deciding it was best to get the car running. I grabbed my jacket before pulling the heavy oak door open and stepping out into the morning air.

A wall of frigid winds hit me like a truck, elicting small shriek from my lips. Pulling on my coat with a newfound fervor, I all but ran to the driver's side door.

The day I'd been given my olympic blue hand-me-down Dodge by my parents was probably one of the best days of my life, but I would be lying if I said I didn't year for something with a bit better of a heating system.

 _This thing is an icebox._

As the minutes ticked by, my mind began to wander to the possibility of just leaving Carter to walk himself to school.

 _Sure, it was freezing out and he most certainly didn't know how to find Forks High School, but I'm sure he'd be fine._

Normally, I wasn't so impatient, but I thought punctuality was at least kind of important on your first day to a new school.

Just as I was about to lean on the horn, his majesty himself decided to grace me with his presence. I leaned over and opened the passenger side door.

"Took you long enough." I said, my tone chastizing.

He pulled a face before settling into the passenger's seat. And with that, we were off.

 _XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

 _If Jasper had been concerned by his sister's antics before, he was surely convinced that she has gone off the rails now._

 _Just as he was about to leave for another tedious day of keeping up appearances at Forks High School, Alice planted herself in front of him and demanded that he change his clothes for something nicer. Her slim, symmetrical nose was upturned in displeaure at his seemingly less-than-favorable apperance._

 _"What?" he had asked, incredulously._

 _Alice had her quirks, of course, but this was one he had never seen before._

 _"Today is…important," she said, her expression troubled._

 _He knew that look. It was as if she yearned to say more, yet was also balancing precariously on the edge of divulging bits of the uncertain future._

 _Alice usually tried her best to keep the future a secret, for the most part. Jasper understood that to an extent. He supposed that if the whole family knew the future, they'd all probably alter tiny details of fated events and find themselves in entirely different circumstances._

 _He felt sorry for Alice in a way, for just that reason. It must be maddening to see so many possible endings for the near future and not be able to divulge most of it._

 _Jasper had never put much effort into his appearance since being turned. Wasn't that one of the major points of vampirism, anyways? People being drawn to you?_

 _Even after reminding Alice of this seemingly obvious fact, she remained quite insistent._

 _"This is different, just trust me, alright?" she tapped her forehead, grinning a bit mischievously. "I've never led you wrong before, have I?"_

 _Jasper, knowing better than to challenge Alice too much, did change. He grumbled his annoyances all the while, but changed nevertheless._

 _Truthfully, he couldn't imagine what could cause him to need to dress any different than usual, but he oftentimes found that it was much easier to simply go along with Alice and her visions rather than defy either._

 _XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

Forks High was rather underwhelming. Passing by a sign that sported a large spartan head, I noted that the building itself was small enough, and rather plain. The fact that it was built entirely of drab bricks that gave the whole thing a very institutionalized feeling.

The red hued brick walls stood out amongst the otherwise predominant green forests that surrounded the school. Well, the school and every other part of Forks.

As I scoured the crowded parking lot, I couldn't ignore the fact that we were being followed by too many sets of eyes.

 _And so it begins._

Parking in one of the few desolate spots, it seemed that both Carter and I were waiting to see who would have the guts to open our door first.

Taking much too long to pull my keys from the ignition, I finally caved, letting out a hefty sigh and pulled open my door.

I dared a few glances around the parking lot, met by equally curious eyes. I nodded the few who didn't instantly look away, having been caught stalking the new girl.

One positive, I noted, was that my aged Ford was not too out of place here. Despite the heavily rusted bed, my new classmate's cars didn't seem to be in much better condition.

Well, except for a sleek Volvo parked a row or two away from mine. Funny that the nicer car stood out like a sore thumb.

Mine wasn't even as bad as what looked like an extremely worn Chevy, or at least what was left of it. If my car wasn't exactly safe, that thing was an _utter deathtrap._ I could hardly tell where the cracked paint ended and the rust began.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by a hand resting on my shoulder. Jumping a bit, I traced the hand back to its owner, a friendly looking Asian boy, with golden skin ridden with acne and a thousand watt smile.

"Hey, you must be Diana," he said, extending his hand. "I'm Eric. Eric Yorkie."

I was a little surprised that he knew my name, which must have shown. "You'll learn news travels quite fast around Forks," He said apologetically.

I grinned, taking my hand out of my pocket to shake his, nodding. "You can call me Ana. This is my brother, Cart-"

I stopped short, realizing that Carter had seemed to abandon me. Eric laughed a bit. "So much for safety in numbers, huh? Anyways, I was just going to ask if you needed any help finding your way around."

I considered for half a moment. "Actually, could you point me to the office? I think that's where I'm supposed to pick up my schedule." Seeming elated that I had actually taken him up on his offer, Eric chatted my ear off the entire way through the hall.

I had been trying to be polite and pay attention, really, but he had effectively lost me somewhere around the topic of the latest escapade of Forks High's Model UN club.

I was much more concerned with trying to memorize the way through the labyrinth of hallways than I was with the outcome of their last conference.

Noting that his excited chatter in my ear had ebbed away, I blinked, clearing my thoughts. He seemed concerned. "Ana?" he said, smiling hesitantly, "Lost you there for a sec."

I laughed it off, hoping I didn't seem rude. "Sorry, Sorry. Just taking in all the new surroundings." His smile brightened back up a bit, seemingly pleased that I hadn't seemed to be intentionally ignoring him.

"Ah," he exclaimed. "Well, here it is. "

I nodded in appreciation. "Thanks Eric, see you around?" His response was rather lost on my ears as I made my way into the office, but the bubbly tone behind his words seemed affirming enough to me.

I sighed as I skimmed through my schedule, trying my best to multitask while navigating through the halls.

Though I had been given a scrawled map of the school by the secretary, it was still quite difficult to make my way through the crowded hallways.

My first class seemed to be French with Mrs. Goff. French was never a subject I had been extremely fond of, and hence I was none too pleased about having to start each day with what I considered to be the romance language from hell.

A quiet chuckle brought me out of my thoughts, though the only other person in the area was a curiously lanky and bronze haired boy. He ducked into another hallway before I could get a good look at him.

 _There's no way I said that out loud, right? What the fu-_

An obnoxious ringing pulled me from my thoughts.

 _Damn, late on the firs_ t _day_.

I hurried into what seemed to be my French room, at least according to my schedule.

The first thing I saw upon entering the doorway was a set of brilliantly colored amber eyes, clouded with immense excitement.

The owner of these eyes was an extremely petite girl, with cropped dark hair that suited her delicate heart-shaped face well. Her smile was brighter than any I had ever seen before as she let out an enthusiastic wave.

Confused, I glanced over my shoulder before realizing that her greeting was aimed at me. Returning the gesture with a tentative smile and nod, I made my way over to Mrs. Goff.

She briefly introduced herself before signing the pink slip of paper I was meant to return to the secretary by the end of the day. I was quite thankful that she didn't make a show of introducing me to the class, rather simply regarding me with sympathy. She did, however, remind me rather loudly that tardiness would not be tolerated in her classroom once I'd gotten used to my surroundings, much to my embarrasment.

Turning to take my seat, I was surprised when the small girl who had offered such a warm greeting earlier turned and moved her glittery tote bag from the seat nearest to her to the ground, waving me over.

 _Had she been saving a seat for me?_ I thought, my brow furrowed. _Jeez, Eric had said news traveled fast around here, but I hadn't expected my whole schedule to be public knowledge._

Taking the seat she had offered, I gave her a less hesitant grin than I had before.

If her smile had been bright before, it was now absolutely _radiant._ I had not realized before that she was not just a delicate kind of pretty, but that she was absolutely gorgeous. Try as I might, I could not find a fault in her porcelain skin, nor her flawless smile.

"Ana! Its _so_ nice to meet you. I'm Alice, Alice Cullen."

I was thoroughly confused when she used my preferred nickname, Ana. I didn't see how Eric could have even spread that bit of information around so quickly. That thought was pushed to the back of my head, though, as I noticed how perfectly her bell-like voice fit her delicate frame.

"We're going to be amazing friends-" she started, before pausing abruptly. "I mean, I hope." She corrected.

Despite Alice's slightly strange mannerisms, her bright personality was positively infectious, and I soon found myself liking her quite a bit for having just met her.

It struck me as odd, however, that my classmates had gone from regarding me with a bit of innocent interest to a more incredulous stares.

"You're from Vermont, right?" She inquired with a genuine curiosity. I smiled, nodding. "Quite the change," she noted. "How are you liking it here so far?"

"I haven't seen much of the town yet, but I like it so far. Very... _green_ " I managed, not quite knowing how to describe Forks just yet.

Alice hummed. "Well, I do hope you adjust well. I know it can be difficult in here. People tend to treat you like an alien if you weren't born and bred in Forks." She said, lowering her voice a bit. The light twist of her lips suggested she wasn't too bothered by her own suggestion though, it was more like we were two close friends indulging in a personal joke at the expense of the entire town.

"Are you not from Forks?" I asked, a bit surprised.

 _She seems so comfortable here that I never would have guessed_.

Alice shook her head.

 _Damn, how can someone even shake their head gracefully?_

"We moved from Alaska a couple years ago." She answered.

I cocked my head to the side a bit. "We?"

Looking up from her notes, Alice nodded once again." My siblings and I," she provided. "There are five of us, but you've already met the best one." She said, winking. I laughed a bit, which seemed to be easy to do around Alice.

"I'm sure I have." I said, grinning.

Another shrill ring interrupted our conversation, signifying the end of class. I frowned a bit. I was quite enjoying my talk with the girl, and was eager to form some friendships at this new school. I pulled out my phone, offering it to her.

"Hey, would you mind putting your number in? I'm going to need some fellow alien friends." I said, laughing a bit to cover a slight nervousness buzzing through me. I hoped I wasn't too forward, and that my attempts at friendship wouldn't pester Alice.

All worry of that was cast from my mind, though, as Alice snatched my cellphone, her face lighting up like Christmas had come early.

As Alice and I bid each other goodbye, I felt myself becoming less worried about what my future at Forks held.

In fact, after having met both Eric and Alice, I was actually confident that it would be easier to adjust than before, and that I might even begin to enjoy the small town.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hello to anyone reading! Hope you're all doing well. Don't forget to review!**

The next few class periods passed without incident, and I soon found myself in the class I had been most excited for.

Fourth period honors United States history. Even though most people thought history to be an extremely boring subject, it was the one class that I thought I was good at. In my old school, I had taken AP history courses, but Forks high school was so small that they didn't offer college levels. Not that I minded, of course. I would not miss filling out those horrendous end of the year exams as the hours drifted by.

As my classmates slowly started to trickle in, I took mental note of how my first day had been going so far.

I had been getting a general idea of how to navigate around the school, thanking my lucky stars that the compact building didn't present me with that many opportunities to get myself lost.

I was still exuberant about meeting Alice, as she was easily one of the sweetest people I'd met in my whole life. I had an inkling of suspicion that I shared a calculus period with one of the siblings she'd mentioned. It had only taken one look at an extremely broad shouldered boy in the back of the class to see the resemblance. They both had that flawless, almost picturesque skin and impressively symmetrical features that made everyone else I'd had met so far look like they were still in the gangly, awkward phases of middle school. He though, had closley cropped black hair and a glint of boyish mischievousness in his golden eyes that differed from Alice's.

 _Was skin that perfect genetic, or did the whole family follow some kind of intense skin-care routine religiously?_ I figured that I would have to come to that conclusion after seeing the rest of them.

The unfortunately monotone voice of Mr. Jefferson pulled me from my thoughts. Blinking profusely as to shake speculations of the Cullen's apparent perfection, I focused on what the stocky man had been saying.

"Mr. Hale. _Mr. Hale._ If you could _please_ take your seat? I'm sure it hasn't escaped your attention that the bell has already rung." His voice laced with annoyance. I drew my eyes away from the form of Mr. Jefferson, and onto the subject of his beratement, quite happy that I had avoided a similar speech by finding the room on time.

As my eyes locked upon his form, my breath caught in my throat.

I could practically feel my face flushing as I took him in. I was looking at what was undoubtedly the most angelic face I had ever seen. He was tall, I could tell that much. I could barely even guess how tall as my eyes flitted between his features, too fast for my poor mind to even hope to keep up with. He was broad shoulders that were tense against his shirt, which clung to him in a way that made the heat rush to my cheeks all the faster. The subtle hints of his toned phisique underneath the thin fabric made my stomach twist in a way that was foreign to me.

It was his face, though that truly enthralled me. His face was an ode to the gods in and of itself, with a strong, chiseled jawline, a straight nose and high, sculpted cheekbones, which somehow complimented his face in a way that didn't effeminate his features. His hair was a honeyed, golden color, with strands of chestnut and auburn strewn about. It hung down to his jawline in tumbling, unruly waves, framing his lovely face like a halo. His pink lips were slightly parted, drawn down at the sides as if he were staggered. His sandy brows were furrowed over eyes that were as black as pitch, focused, and… _staring_ _at me?_

I gaped, dumbfounded at the burning intensity with which he regarded me. Frozen in place, I could do nothing more than gawk, in a way that I was sure didn't grace my features in an alluring way as it did his. Yes, I was quite sure that I probably took after the appearance of a fish that was being held above water for too long in comparison to his captivating expression.

My muddled brain could hardly scream loud enough for me to look way that I was probably ogling him like some absolute freak, but my physical self simply wouldn't obey. I couldn't tear my eyes away from his graceful form; it was like an invisible hand was suddenly squeezing my heart, stealing all my air. It felt like an invisible cord had tethered me to this beautiful stranger, and if I were to pluck that cord and look away from him, I would surely be lost.

Much to my confusion, I suddenly felt an onslaught of emotion, more intense than I had ever felt. Confusion, surprise, wonderment, longing, temptation and adoration, only in addition to what felt like thousands of other little pinpricks of sentiments in my chest. It was almost too much for me to bear. I was suffocating, drowning amongst all these stifling feelings.

He was _gorgeous._ Not gorgeous in a way like male models or movie stars, flaunting themselves on the covers of magazines or promotional stunts. No, he was gorgeous in a much deeper way. A way that made my stomach churn in the best of ways, a way that made my heart speed up and my brain move slow like molasses. The way in which he was gorgeous was simply _effortless._

The sound of Mr. Jefferson clearing his throat shattered the delicate state of that moment in time.

I could have screamed with frustration when I was forced to tear my eyes from his. My cheeks were on fire, and I could only hope that nobody would notice the surely aggressive flush of color that had overtaken my pale skin. I was dizzy from that brief, yet strange interaction. How was it possible for me to feel that much by just looking at someone? I wasn't sure if someone could slow their own heartbeat, but in that moment, I desperately wanted to. It was beating so fast and so hard in my ears, I was almost certain that all of Washington could hear its frantic rhythm.

He began to walk to his seat, no, drifted was a better word. I had no idea anyone could be so graceful, but it suited him perfectly. I could not imagine his beautiful form doing anything that could be considered less than graceful, that was surely impossible.

I felt a stab of panic as I realized that most of the other seats in the classroom had been filled, and that he was moving for the seat just beside me. As he slid into said seat, my panic increased tenfold. Surely, he would notice that I was blushing like a maniac? He would probably take pity on the pathetic new girl who could hardly meet his gaze without going into a tizzy.

The strangest part was that this was very uncharacteristic of me. Never before had I felt an instant attraction to someone, nor had I stared at anyone like a fool for upwards of who knows how long. Sure, it would be a lie to say that I hadn't had fickle crushes on a few boys throughout my years in Vermont, but that was all forgotten after the car crash. Boys had been the farthest thing from my mind from that point on. I had found it more important to pick up the pieces of myself and try to reconstruct them into the confident, good humored person I had once been.

I still had not been restored to her yet, and I still found it difficult to laugh as easily as I used to, or to smile the bright smile I had once been known for. No teenaged boys had really wanted to get involved with a girl that could break once again at a moment's notice, into millions of tiny, microscopic fractals of glass, and I didn't blame them, either.

Remembering these things brought on a bitter taste in my mouth, a painful stab in my chest, and made my body go numb. Before my breathing could quicken, I gathered my bearings, determined to keep today a good day. _The first of many,_ I reminded myself. As I pushed the grief back, massaging some feeling into my fingers, I could've sworn that I saw the lips of the lovely stranger to my right pull down into a troubled grimace, his gaze flicking in my direction.

My heart rate spiking a bit, I returned my attention to the front of the classroom, successfully locking away my thoughts of the past, as well as successfully _not_ _stalking_ the golden haired boy. A small victory.

 _XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

If Jasper had not been so perfectly enamored by the young girl beside him, He would have surely killed Alice. He understood keeping the possible future from being public knowledge, but _really?_ She decided that not telling him that he would meet his mate today would be a good idea? The one being that had been made by the universe, specifically for him?

The second that Jasper laid eyes on her, he was sure that if he had had a beating heart, it would have stopped. He finally understood all that Carlisle had said about mates. It was as if you hadn't known you were looking for something all your life, something you so desperatley needed to find. And then, you suddenly found it.

His every sense was buzzing just from being so close to her. He chanced a look out of the corner of his eye.

Everything about her appealed to some deep, unknown part of him. The brightness behind her green eyes, the gentle parting of her rosy lips when she first saw him. The raging color that had overtook her cheeks, her inability to still her own rapid heartbeat. The way her dark hair tumbled this way and that, down to her lower back, which he so desperately yearned to run his hands through. All of her human qualities called out to him, something he didn't even know that he missed so dearly from his own human life. The sound of her heartbeat, coloring in her cheeks, the warmth that undoubtedly radiated from her body. It all brought him back to a much simpler time, his humanity.

He wanted to get close to her more than anything, to feel her soft, warm skin against his frigid hands. He was never more thankful for his improved sight as he was now, now that he got to drink in every single detail of her. When he had caught the light dusting of freckles across her nose, it had nearly done him in. It was refreshing, to see someone so full of life, after centuries of life amongst strong, cold immortals. Of course, these people were his family, and he valued them more than his own life, but seeing her gentle mortality stirred something deep inside him.

He knew she felt it too. At this moment, he was joyous that he had received the gifts of an empath. He knew for a fact that this was his mate. He felt the same longing connection coming from her. The knowledge that she felt anything, just knew he existed, filled him with such an unbelievable euphoria.

Of course, it hadn't escaped his attention that his mate was _human._ That had surely been a shock. If he hadn't felt the mate bond himself, he may have doubted that it was even there, between him and a human girl.

Edward, being his philosophical self, had always said that mates were created to be the one piece of bliss that a vampire's eternally damned soul was allowed, that it was an act of mercy from the universe.

Where Jasper had never really weighed these possibilities, when he had first heart the heart that solidy beat in her chest, he wondered if making his mate human was a form of torment for all of the sins he'd committed during the Southern Vampire Wars. A tantalizing temptation that would haunt him for as long as he was around her. The undoubted hell that a vampire would have to endure for the rest of their torturous existence by denying the mate bond.

Now, though, he wasn't so sure. Where he had been holding his breath before, avoiding catching any of her scent in case it was too difficult to resist, he had broken his resolve and allowed himself a small sniff.

She smelled heavenly, that was for sure. Her scent reminded him of his human life, the smell on the air after a good rainfall would soak the cotton fields of Houston. It reminded him of the clear summer nights of his childhood. There were hints of slighter, more refined scents. Something floral, tastefully, just barely there. Something sweet, undeniablt sweet that surrounded the air around him. He was enthralled by the sweet scents that invaded his every sense.

Something in him told him that no matter now pleasing the scent of her blood was to him, how it called out to his primal urges, he could never even consider drinking from her. The thought in itself made him recoil.

No, there was a much stronger urge. Something that bubbled up in his chest so strongly, he thought that it would surely burst. There was an instinct, an absolute _need_ to keep her out of harm's way. He would surely rather reach the most painful of deaths, be torn limb from limb, than ever see harm befall her.

That's why, when he felt such sadness coming from his mate, something that could only be described as _pain,_ it took all of the strength from within him to keep a low growl from rumbling through his chest, to stop himself from stealing her away and making sure she never felt an ounce of pain again.

He wondered if it would be wrong to have Edward poke around her thoughts, just to see what caused her that pain. The intense distaste towards the thought of anyone using their abilities on her surprised him. He hadn't known mate bonds were this strong. He would have to ask Carlisle about that.

He suddenly remembered Edward's recent infatuation with that human girl, whose name happened to escape him at the moment. At first, he had simply attributed it to her being Edward's singer, her blood being much more appealing to him than anyone else's. But on second thought, he wondered if they shared the mate bond. Before today, he would surely have found such a thought to be impossible, predator and prey together. He would have to remind himself to question him about that.

But at this moment, Jasper was far more concerned with listening to the gentle heartbeat of the lovely creature beside him. The steady sound of her breathing calmed him to no end. He knew that soon, he would have to worry himself with the specifics of the situation, but for now, he was more than happy to simply bask in the presence of this exquisite being, whose name he hadn't even yet learned.

Though he was physically infinitley stronger than her, though she was meant to be his prey, and was realistically in every way helpless against him, the thiught struck him that he was powerless against this frail human girl, who had him enamored with a single look from beneath her long lashes.

Jasper Hale realized that he had finally found the battle he could not win, denying his desire to have her in every way imaginable.

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 **A/N: Please favorite and review! Tell me what you think of this chapter! (has been edited)**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Chapter four is here! Thank you so much to the people who have favorited and followed. Please review!**

 **Guest (Chapter 1) - thank you for your kind review!**

 **Guest (Chapter 3) - Thank you for reviewing! I wanted to write this after having finished many of the longer Jasper/OC fanfics, which are my favorite as well. I feel like there just aren't enough of them. Hope you like this chapter!**

Though it had been some time since the incident in Mr. Jefferson's class, I could not shake the thoughts of the strange boy with black eyes that invaded my mind. How had one look at him made my body fall to pieces? We hadn't even spoken. He didn't even know my name, nor I his. To think that there was any kind of connection there was absurd.

 _Had I simply imagined the intensity of the moment?_

The strong churning of emotions that shot through my stomach at that moment ensured that my memory _strongly_ disagreed with that accusation.

I mulled over these thoughts as I walked to the lunchroom, following the haphazard map from the main office. Pushing one of the large double doors open, I instantly regretted walking into the lunchroom alone. The stop at my locker I had made along the way consequently meant that I had missed the chance to shuffle in amongst the crowd, and therefore undetectably.

I shifted uncomfortably under the gazes of those at the tables closer to me. Frantically scanning the room, I looked for any familiar face that could save me.

"Ana!" I heard a voice call. I spun around, meeting eyes with my savior.

 _Eric._ _Beautiful, wonderful Eric._ In that moment, I was eternally grateful for the gangly Asian boy who was waving me over to a table at the center of the room, saving me from too many inquisitive stares.

Hurrying to the table, I maneuvered around stray chairs that had not been pushed in and the backpacks that littered the floor.

Eric patted the empty seat to his side, gesturing for me to sit. I obliged, shooting a smile his way. "Thank you," I sighed, more grateful than he knew. I had learned today that my classmate's stares made me exceptionally uncomfortable.

He slung his arm around my shoulder, making me start a little, before gesturing around the table. "This is Jessica, Mike, Bella, Tyler, Lauren, Angela and Ben." He said, pointing to everyone in a clockwise motion.

Each member of the group gave a murmured chorus of greetings, except for the one girl, with long platinum hair who gave me a quick once over. She may have been quite pretty, with her pale eyes and slender nose, had it not been for the unpleasant twist to her features, as if she'd smelled something rotten.

Before I had even had the chance to speak, the bubbly, animated girl with a mass of bouncing chestnut curls beat me to it.

"Diana, right?'" She asked, leaning forward in her seat slightly. "You're from Vermont?" I got the impression that this girl, Jessica, was less genuinely curious about _me_ as much as she was the newest resident of Forks.

I smiled lightly anyways, nodding. "News really does travel fast, I guess."

Eric piped up "Ana, Jess. She prefers Ana." Taking this opportunity to lean a bit closer into my side.

"Oh. Well um, why'd you move to Forks, anyways? Isn't this like the last town people want to move to?" Jessica continued, barely shaken.

I carefully maneuvered my way out from under Eric's arm as I answered, keeping a safe, friendly distance between us. "Well my Dad wanted to move here, more job opportunities and all. He works in logging, and there's definitely no shortage of lumber in Washington." I shifted a bit uncomfortably, hoping that she wouldn't press the topic too far, forcing me to bring up other, more depressive reasons behind the move.

The girl with the rounded pink glasses, Angela, spoke up, seeming to sense my unease about the topic. "Do you like it here so far, Ana? Getting used to small town life?" She questioned with a genuine smile. I decided in that moment that I quite liked Angela.

I took a moment before responding. "Well, my home town is pretty tiny, too, but nothing like Forks. I haven't gotten the chance to look around much, since we just moved in last night."

"Hey, Bella's new here too. New girl squared," The blonde, baby faced boy said, laughing at his own joke as he nudged the girl to his left.

The girl, Bella, had brown hair that tumbled just past her shoulders, and an almost translucent sunken in face. She bobbed her head lightly, regarding me rather quickly before studying her lunch. "I just got here a few weeks ago, from Phoenix." She was quite gangly, I noted, as she picked through her food. She offered a slightly awkward smile before adding "Luckily you being here seems to take a bit of the attention off of me."

I laughed lightly. It seemed to me that she had a rather lackluster personality, but I could certainly relate to her distaste regarding all the attention that came along with being a new student. "Yeah, jeez. I feel like I've been being watched like a hawk all day. How often do new students come in?" I asked, my eyes flicking to the faces around the table.

It was Jessica that answered, seemingly quite gleeful that I had asked. "Well," she started, a slight smirk turning up the corner of her mouth. "Before you and Bella, it was the Cullens, about two years ago." She said, shooting a sidelong glance at Bella, as if searching for even the slightest of reactions. Bella did react, somehow stiffening even further than what seemed natural for her.

"Oh," I said a bit surprised, "like Alice Cullen?" The question seemed innocent enough to me, but from the looks I got from everyone at the table, you'd think I had asked the best place to hide a body in Forks. I shifted a bit uncomfortably. "What? She's in my French class."

The girl with the unpleasant expression spoke for the first time. "You like… _talked to her?"_ The slightly condescending edge to her voice just rubbed me wrong way.

I felt a flare of protectiveness for Alice flare up, surprising me. "Is there something wrong with that?" I asked, quirking a brow as I regarded Lauren.

Mike let out a slightly uncomfortable, breathy laugh. "Well, I mean, no. She's just, kinda freaky. I mean, all the Cullens are."

"Well, I disagree. I think that she's very nice, actually, and I'm sure that the rest of her family is too." I said, jutting out my chin. "And, it's not very fair to judge them when it doesn't seem like you even know them." I added in an indignant manner. I felt my cheeks flush after that small outburst, which was quite unlike me. I felt a little bad for jumping down Mike's throat after feeling the brief tension that settled over the table. It didn't escape me; however, that Bella seemed to perk up a bit, apprising me with surprise, and maybe even a slight bit of appreciation.

It was Angela, once again, who saved me by easing the tension. "I mean, she does dress really nice, don't you think, Jess? Maybe we should go down to Port Angeles soon and look around in those designer stores."

Jess nodded a bit, regarding me a bit hesitantly. "Well, there isn't anything _wrong_ with the Cullens, exactly." She seemed to be choosing her words carefully as she stared off across the lunchroom. I followed her gaze to a circular table by the windows.

At the table was not only my friend, Alice, but also four other people, each more lovely than the last. Next to Alice sat a lanky boy, dressed slightly abnormally, in a grey duster jacket. His voluminous copper hair rather meticulously styled. Beside him sat a girl with a waterfall of golden blonde hair, arched brows and perfect features. She held hands with the boy I recognized from Calculus class. It was the last member of the table who caught my attention for the second time that day. Sitting between the brawny boy from Calculus and Alice, he looked no less perfect than he had the previous period. I took in his handsome face, which was animated as he spoke to those at the table.

I turned my attention towards Jess. "Are they all Cullens?" I asked, slightly puzzled as I remembered Mr. Jefferson referring to the striking blonde boy as Mr. Hale.

Jess hummed in affirmation, seeming pleased that I showed some sort of interest in the group in a way that wasn't hostile towards her slightly gossipy mannerisms. "Well, yes and no. They're all doctors Cullen's adopted kids, besides the two blonde ones. They're related to his wife somehow, I think," she said, in a tone so assured that I doubted she was even a little unsure of their connections. "The blonde girl, that's Rosalie. And the really big guy next to her is Emmett," she said, pointing out two of them. "The gorgeous one, that's Edward," she continued. Where my eyes shot to the blonde one, it seemed that she was referring to the lankiest at the table. "He's got some weird superiority complex, though, so I wouldn't think about going for him." The slight venom that laced her words gave me the impression that she'd have faced rejection by him at some point.

I saw Bella flush slightly, which amused me quite a bit. I was starting to get the idea that she might have a bit of a _thing_ for this boy.

I nodded. "He's not really my type anyways. He looks so… _serious."_ The boy, Edward, shot his gaze over to our table as if he were shocked at something he'd overheard. I made a face at that, seeing that there was no possibility of anyone hearing a single voice carried from across the bustling lunchroom.

 _A bit of a weirdo, too, apparently._ I thought, watching as his lips quirked up at the side, muttering something that made his whole table descend into a deep, uninhibited laughter.

My own table let out some laughs too, the most mirthful being from the males in our company, who I was sure were all sick and tired of the girls fawning over Edward and his good looks.

I cleared my throat, trying to come off casually. "So, what about the other one? The blonde next to Alice?" I asked, taking a bite of the sandwich I'd brought from home as to seem as uninterested as possible despite the quick glance I sent his way.

"Oh, Him?" Jessica said, tearing her appreciative eyes from Edward's form. "That's Jasper Hale. Rosalie's twin," she added offhandedly, as if he wasn't the most alluring person in the room.

 _Jasper. Now that I knew his name, I decided that I quite liked that name. In fact, maybe it was my favorite name. It filled my head with thoughts of honeyed curls and pink lips._

"Well I think it's amazing that Doctor Cullen took them in, with him being so young and all." Angela said, drumming her fingertips on the table.

Mike nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I'm just surprised he would let all that _other_ _stuff_ go on under his roof," He said, amusement in his voice as he gave Eric a look, as if rehearsing an age old inside joke.

It did, apparently, warrant a laughs from around the table, and even a slight chuckle from stony-faced Bella.

I, however, was completely in the dark as I quirked a brow. "Am I missing something here?" I asked, my eyes scanning the table for any subtle hints at an explanation.

Angela was the first to speak up. "Well," she seemed to ponder her words. "Some of them, they're like, together." She said hesitantly.

"Like, _together, together."_ Jessica stressed, incredulously.

I felt my eyebrows shoot up. "Um, _what?_ Is that legal?" Sure, I liked Alice and her dangerously attractive brother, but I wasn't sure that I could defend either amongst claims of anything…of that nature.

"No, no!" Angela added quickly. "Just the ones who aren't related, Emmett and Rosalie. Nothing like what you're thinking." I let out a sigh of relief.

"Well, that's a little strange, but harmless enough I suppose." I said, shrugging, before a certain thought hit me. "Well, what about the other one, Jasper? He's not related. Is he…?" I questioned, ignoring the wrench of my gut at the thought of Jasper being involved with anyone in that aspect.

 _That's none of your business, anyways. Your weird obsession is creepy enough, let alone getting jealous over someone you've never even spoken to._

"Well I always thought that he and Alice were a thing, but Angela doesn't agree." Jess answered, twirling one of her curls along her index finger.

Angela rolled her eyes from behind her thick rimmed glasses. "Because they're not, Jess just likes the gossip," she said, sending Jessica a teasing look.

As I regarded Alice, with her delicate frame and tinkling laugh, I hoped Angela was right.

 _XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

 _Jasper regarded her from across the parking lot as he leaned on his brother's silver Volvo. She was leaning up against her own truck, bent over a faded paperback. He supposed that he would look rather creepy to any passerby, staring at her. Diana. His Diana. The moment he'd learnt that name belonged to her, it was less like an everyday name and more like a sing-song melody. He appreciated that it was a bit vintage, after all, he himself was a bit vintage, he thought with a chuckle._

 _He enjoyed the way her forehead creased in concentration as she read, gnawing on her lower lip while her hand was tangled amongst her curls. He'd been considering the right way to approach her since fourth period that day, and was still left without a solid conclusion. Instead, he more often found himself studying her. She was fuller than most girls, in a healthy way that accentuated her hips and waist. Whatever piece of human man buried deep within him stirred slightly at that. He had gotten to know her physical form so intimately already that he'd even noticed the auburn undertones in her hair that the sun caught at just the right angle, as well as the way she wrung her hands to keep herself occupied. He especially loved the way her heart had sped up ever so slightly whilst his name was spoken during lunch. The subtle hints of jealousy that had become present while her table gossiped about a possible romantic involvement between him and Alice, which was, of course, untrue. He had found that quite charming actually, a hint at the mate bond between them which she was not yet aware of._

 _That same factor had made itself apparent to him today as well, when that Eric boy had pulled her close to him, as if she were his own. It took a great amount of self-control to refrain from not only letting a growl rumble through his chest, but also to keep himself from storming over and tearing his arms away from his Diana. The memory itself caused him to stiffen slightly. He had, of course, been overly satisfied when she'd rejected his subtle advances, shrugging out of his embrace. It had also pleased him at the way she'd defended both him and his family fiercely, without really knowing any of them besides Alice._

 _He was torn from his thoughts as a sandy haired boy approached her. He pushed his possessive instinct back as he rationalized that it must have been the brother that Alice had mentioned, judging by their extremely casual interaction riddled with jibes. He decided to memorize her for as long as he could as she prepared to leave._

 _He was surprised, however, when she looked up and caught his eye, freezing like a deer in headlights. He could hear the way her heart sped up, the way her blood flowed that much faster, manifesting itself in the rouge that overtook her cheeks. That alone made his lips quirk into a self-satisfied smirk. He held the eye contact, inclining his head slightly in greeting as he held up a hand._

 _He could have laughed out loud at the way her jaw slacked faintly. She, too, raised a hand, waving hesitantly, purely on impulse it seemed, before she hurriedly climbed into the cab of her truck, where her brother was already waiting. Had it not been for his enhanced senses, he may have missed the teasing way in which her brother questioned her._

" _Who was that?" He asked smugly, taking in his sister's raging blush._

 _Her muffled voice only responded with an icy "Shut up" as she pressed her face against the steering wheel._

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 _Why do I have to be such an idiot?_

 **A/N: Hope everyone enjoyed tonight's lunar eclipse, as well as this slightly longer chapter! Don't forget to follow and review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Another chapter! Please don't forget to leave a review!**

The drive home with Carter had been an absolute nightmare. My years and years of teasing him about girls had come back to bite me after all, in the form of what seemed like a game of twenty questions with the specific topic of Jasper Hale. And all because of one teensy-weensy little wave.

 _Maybe if you hadn't been so awkward about it,_ I reminded myself scornfully.

I had tried all I could to tone down my fiery cheeks on the ride home from school, even going as far as blasting the air conditioning in the frigid Forks weather, much to Carter's complaint. But now, as I sat at the dinner table, I was quite thankful had. I was sure that if there had been even a slight remainder of the blush from earlier, I would face another inquisition, only this time from my mom.

"So," she started, looking between Carter and I. "How was your first day?"

I pushed my dinner around with my fork as I answered. "Good," I said distractedly, mulling over the day's events, lingering on my few interactions with a certain blonde.

Their banter was largely lost on my ears until my dad joined in, posing a question.

"And did you kids meet anyone nice? Any friends yet?"

I felt my heart falter for a fraction of a second as I saw an impish smirk form on Carter's face. "Ana did."

Those two simple words had me glaring daggers at him from across the table as I felt a slight heat rise to my face.

"Oh?" Inquired my mother, raising a sandy brow in interest.

" _Very_ good friends," He continued, the teasing tone lacing his words giving me no doubts of who he was referring to.

I covered up the solid _thump_ that was produced by the firm kick I landed to Carter's shin by clearing my throat.

"Yes, actually." I said, thinking of the lunch group and Alice. "One girl I met is new here too." I desperately tried to keep any thoughts of Jasper at bay. An unexplainable blush would surely lead to questions.

A genuine smile lit up my mom's face, and I realized that it had been the first in a long time. I felt a pang of guilt in my stomach as I realized how much stress the move had put on her. "See? I told you it wouldn't be so bad, you two are already making friends."

I nodded, deciding that I would try to be more positive, happier even, more like my old self. If not for myself, I would do it for my family's benefit.

I was starting to quite like gentle sound of rain tapping against my window, I decided as I struggled through the remainder of my calculus homework. It had proven quite difficult, since my mind had been straying from the dull equations to a whole different kind of problem: Jasper.

I sighed, slamming my textbook shut and opting to scratch Pudge behind the ears instead.

 _We haven't even spoken. So why do I keep thinking of him? And his angled face, and his blonde hair, and his broad shoulders, and the way his lips twist when he smiles, and the different, wonderfully animated expressions he makes while speaking, and-_

I banished those invasive thoughts from my mind, before an unwilling blush could overtake my cheeks again.

This was a little pathetic.

I had never been the type to fawn over some guy, quite the opposite even. I enjoyed the occasional cheesy romance, of course, but had never had the inclination to seriously pursue anyone. Quite the opposite, really. It seemed like most of the high school relationships were desperate, low rate attempts at romance, which led me to think they were not only quite silly, but rather pointless as well.

I reminded myself that realistically, any feelings for him were _very_ out of line. I knew next to nothing about him. In fact, for all I knew, the guy could've been a complete jerk, riddled with deal breakers yet blessed with an angelic face.

But Jasper was so… _thrilling._ A single gaze from his piercing eyes could send a shiver down my spine in an instant. Despite this, I was determined not to let my admiration for him show. It was bad enough that he'd seen my face flush today numerous times at the mere sight of him, so I was set on not tripping over myself the next time I saw him.

 _Easier said than done. It seems like all of the Cullens had a weird ethereal beauty about them. Maybe the whole moving down from Alaska thing was a ruse, and they were really just a family of models in the witness protection program or something._

I groaned in frustration, looking at Pudge. "Why does he have to be so-" I fumbled, trying to think of a word that could possibly describe Jasper. "Good looking?"

That seemed like an oversimplification. An inequity. Good looking certainly didn't do justice to his strong jaw or full lips, nor the confidence that simply oozed from him.

"And this is _not_ a crush." I said in a firm tone, feeling judged under the cat's seemingly critical gaze. I ignored the twist in my gut as I said that, as well as the brief flutter of my beating heart. _It's not a crush._

I huffed once more, leaning over to switch of my bedside lamp. As I lay beneath the blankets, enveloped in their warm embrace, I discovered that it was quite difficult to remain frustrated while thoughts of him danced throughout my mind. Rather, it made my chest feel quite light. I couldn't help but let out a small, content sigh as I recounted our brief interactions throughout the day. My head was still buzzing just as I fell into a particularly peaceful sleep riddled with thoughts of the captivating boy from fourth period history.

 _XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

 _Jasper Hale felt like an absolute creep. He knew that Edward occasionally spent time at the Swan girl's house without her knowing, but it still seemed extremely stalker-ish to him, he thought as he looked upon the blue house. He really couldn't help the urge to go to her though. Her scent had clung to him, lingering in his nose and putting him through a delicious sort of torture._

 _It hadn't been hard to follow her beckoning scent across town, and he had hardly even realized he'd decided to follow it before finding himself beneath her window._

 _He felt a bit foolish then, standing beneath her window. What was he doing here? He certainly wasn't going inside. Not only did that feel like crossing a line, but the thought in itself flustered him. He supposed his old morals simply wouldn't die out. In his time period, it was almost unthinkable to be alone with a woman in a_ bedroom _of all things._

 _Had he still had blood rushing through his veins, he was almost certain that it would've rushed to his face at the mere thought of being in those… circumstances with his Diana._

 _No, he wouldn't enter her room, that was out of the question. He had almost made his mind up to leave, before hearing the sound heartbeat reverberating in the room just above him. He closed his eyes, letting out a sigh. That sound was lovely to him, like a sweet song carried on the wind. It calmed him, mostly because it was a sure sign that she was alive and well._

 _He had realized that her mortality significantly affected their mate bond. She seemed so fragile. It concerned him, really. The slightest threat of harm towards her made him jump out of his skin._

 _Even the friendly shoves from her brother in the parking lot had his unbeating heart in his throat. He was almost certain that if she was pushed just a little bit too hard that she would break into a million tiny pieces. He guessed that he wasn't quite sure how fragile humans really were, since he'd never quite trusted himself to be around them ever since abstaining from their blood._

 _He decided that it was the mate bond that had him so panicked over her general health. He was technically programmed to ensure that she stayed safe, so that they could live out an eternity together as nature intended._

 _That note brought a halt to his thoughts. It was a complication, surely. As much as the sound of her heart beating calmed him, it did throw a bit of a wrench in the whole spending eternity together plan. Human hearts don't beat for an eternity. The thought of that sound ever ceasing brought a painful wrench to his gut._

 _To turn her would be to kill her, he thought. He didn't like how those words played together. He could never kill her, no, even if she would come back to him in the end._

 _And what if she didn't even want to be turned? The thought of immortality was daunting to say the least. What if she'd rather live out her life naturally, having human experiences, with human people, before withering away and dying as humans always did?_

 _The thought of seeing her age before his eyes, leaving him behind sent a whole new sort of pain throughout him. To see her die, truly die with no hope at a second chance would surely kill him. There was no way he would live on without her presence in his life, he was sure._

 _But if she didn't want this life with him, if she had grown too attached to her humanity, there was no way he could ever force himself to turn her against her wishes._

 _He and Carlisle had had a lengthy discussion about his Diana, and her unfortunate mortality. He had found out that Edward did have a mate in Bella Swan, though his thirst for her blood remained. The difference between his and Edward's mate bonds was a mystery to both Jasper and Carlisle._

 _Unfortunately, none of them knew anything about the possibility of a vampire who yearned for a human companion, since the large majority of vampires chose to pursue a lifestyle in which humans were considered prey, playthings, and little else._

 _Where Jasper and Carlisle had decided that the two girls would have to decide their fate, when they inevitably learned the truth about the Cullen's existence, Edward had surprised them both by getting quite frustrated with the conversation, swearing that he would never tarnish Bella's existence my damning her otherwise pure soul._

 _Jasper had known his brother to be suffocating philosophical, but to deny himself his mate?_

 _The physical pain that came with denying the mate bond was unimaginable. Jasper himself had seen the magnitude of it in his days in Maria's army. Mates had been separated, as she had been convinced that they would serve as distractions for her soldiers. After all, what good was a soldier with something to live for?_

 _It had been a particularly hard practice for Jasper to stomach. Though Diana was far from being born, he had felt the pain of mate separation due to his abilities as an empath. He had felt the pain of their hearts being torn to pieces, the desperation to protect their mates from the dangers of war. He heard them weep in the night, calling out for their beloved._

 _The worst part of his time serving had been when he was forced to kill another vampire's mate. He felt the desperation, the anger, the hatred, the searing pain from anyone forced to watch him tear their lover limb from limb. In the weeks after, he drowned in their grief._

 _He shuddered at the memory. Edward had self-control, yes, but knowing the pain of separation, Jasper doubted he would last a week of abstaining from Bella and her company._

 _The deepening of Diana's breathing pulled him from his memories of darker times. He smiled as he realized that she'd fallen asleep. Though her mortality was a complication, at times like this he found it incredibly endearing._

 _Scaling the tree beside her window with effortless grace, he made up his mind to stay the night. If he wasn't inside, and she wasn't even aware of his presence, it couldn't infringe on his Southern roots that much, could it?_

 _Leaning against the trunk, he let his eyes shut while listening to her soft breathing. He was sure he'd have no difficulty sitting here all night simply enjoying how close she was to him._

 _Even as the rain began to fall, soaking through his clothes, coating his eyelashes in small droplets and drenching his hair which now curtained his attractive face, he could imagine no place more heavenly than right there in that moment hearing the lovely music that was her beating heart._

 _ **A/N: Hey guys! Sorry for the late chapter, I was having quite a bit of difficulty figuring out where to go with this chapter without rushing into things. Please leave a review, criticism and advice are always welcome!**_


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hey guys! I hope you like the story so far. As always I would appreciate any reviews/criticisms. Enjoy!**

 **Review from YourAlphaWolf- Thank you so much for your kind review! It means a lot and was extremely encouraging as I wrote this Chapter. Hope you enjoy, and feel free to leave more reviews on what you think as the story progresses!**

Navigating through the school was getting easier and easier. After just a few short days of being a Spartan, I was having almost no difficulty getting to and from my classes. Well, like I said, almost.

This was one of the times where I was weaving through the crowded hallways, my head craned as I sorted through a mountain of loose papers in search of my schedule. This time, I was determined to find my way to calculus without asking for directions.

 _Where in the hell is building five? Who would design the buildings out of order anywa-_

My thoughts were cut short as I ran into a brick wall.

At least, that's what I thought was a brick wall, until I remembered that brick walls don't have the strong looking hands that steadied me, strong looking hands that connected to strong looking arms, which in turn were connected to-

 _Oh shit._

Jasper Hale stood right there, in front of me, his large hands clasped around my arms. A small smile graced his features, his lips quirking upwards. Amusement danced in his golden eyes.

"Woah there,"' he started, his voice smooth like honey. "You alright, darlin'?"

I felt my jaw slacken slightly, my mind going blank as I fumbled for a response. "Thank you," I mumbled, nodding slightly, very aware of his firm hold over my arms.

His amused expression stayed intact as he smoothly bent down; collecting the mess of papers I'd dropped to the ground.

Shaking myself from the effect he seemed to have on me, I followed in suit, dropping to my knees much less fluidly, scrambling to gather the mess I'd made.

 _Couldn't I have bumped into literally anyone else?_

"Calculus?" Jasper interrupted quirking a brow as he studied my schedule.

I nodded. "A personal hell of mine."

The deep laugh that rumbled through him stirred a pleasant tingling in my chest. Suddenly realizing the very small distance between our faces, I quickly stood.

"Right, calculus," I said, coughing awkwardly. "I've got to get to calculus." It seemed more like a reminder to myself than anything else.

I'd barely taken a few strides away from Jasper before feeling his hand return its gentle grasp on my shoulder, turning me back towards him.

"Calculus would be that way," He drawled, nodding over his shoulder. Only know did I realize the slight tilt to his words, the gentle elongation of his vowels.

 _A southern accent? He almost seemed a bit too romance novel-esque._ I thought bitterly _. Why do some people get to be so perfect?_

"Oh. Yes, well, I knew that. I was just going to loop around..." I lied through my teeth, gesturing vaguely down the hall.

His humored expression left little doubt that he saw through that cover-up. "Of course." He said, humming. "Or, you could just go the _actual_ way to building five?"

I rolled my eyes good naturedly, falling into step beside him. "Just this once," I mimicked the teasing edge to his words.

"So, you've no love for calculus?" He mused, glancing at the schedule I realized I'd never taken back. "How about French? Cela pourrait-il être votre truc?"

I wrinkled my nose in distaste, flicking my gaze to his pleasant face. "Being that I've no clue what you just said, I'd have to say no." I felt my face flush as I realized his eyes hardly every left my profile as we walked.

He chuckled. "So what is it that makes you tick, then?"

"History," I replied quickly. "It's not so easy to do badly in since it all has a straight answer, seeing as it's already happened."

This seemed to pique his interest "Favorite period to study?"

Taking a moment to consider, I furrowed my brow. "Civil war, I suppose, if I had to pick."

For reasons unbeknownst to me, this seemed to greatly amuse Jasper. His shoulders shook slightly in silent laughter, haphazardly covering his mouth with his pale hand.

"Something funny?" I questioned, maneuvering around a group of our classmates.

Jasper shook his head, yet there was still an air of humor about him. "No, no. I'd just have to say that'd be my favorite as well. "

"Well, it is rather interesting, how a country can just be torn in two so easily-" I was cut short as I collided with Jasper's toned back. "Ow," I moaned, rubbing my arm. "Now I _know_ that one wasn't my fault. You think you could warn me the next time you decide to road-block the hall?"

"Oh," He started distractedly, staring to the end of the hallway. "Sorry."

Quirking a brow, I stood on my tip toes, peeking over one of his broad shoulders. There, standing with the well-built boy from calculus, was the blonde vixen I recognized from the Cullen's lunch table. She was engaged in a one sided, yet quite heated discussion with him as she matched Jasper's stare with an icy glare.

"Hey, isn't that your sister?" I questioned. "And brother?"

Jasper nodded stoically, a stark difference from his playful disposition from before. "She's my twin, actually."

I regarded her with a renewed interest. While her sculpted brows were furrowed in displeasure and her plump lips twisted in a nasty way, she was easily the most gorgeous girl I'd ever seen.

"I can see the resemblance," I murmured, taking in their similar blonde waves and attractive features.

He turned to me fully then, some of the tension leaving his form, his eyes softening slightly. "Right. Well, I need to be going, then" He said.

"Of course," I said somewhat regretfully, fighting the urge to keep staring into his strangely colored irises for hours. He extended a hand, my schedule now neatly folded between his fingers.

"Thanks for walking me by the way, Jasper." I said, offering him a small smile as I reached for the paper.

"Even though you knew the way, of course." He supplied, regaining his lighthearted manner.

"Oh!" I exclaimed, smacking my palm against my forehead. "I never even introduced myself. I'm Ana." I said, extending a hand.

That beautiful smile reappeared, this time showing a perfectly straight row of pearly teeth. "I know." He did take my hand then, but not for the expected handshake. No, he gently took hold of it before raising it to his mouth, grazing his rosy lips over my knuckles ever so gently.

I hardly noticed when his fingers gently placed my folded schedule into my palm, nor the slight inclination of his head he gave just before departing.

I tried to ignore the faint tingling that buzzed throughout my hand during calculus as well as the confusion that overtook me regarding our interaction, which left little room to concentrate on the complex equations.

 _So he may not be a jerk by any means, but maybe a bit weird. Truthfully, has anyone ever kissed a girls hand in the last few centuries? I thought that sort of thing was reserved for Mr. Darcy rather than seventeen year old boys from the twenty-first century._

With these thoughts weighing on my mind, calculus seemed to pass by quickly. While I would rejoice that fact any other day, I wasn't exactly relishing on going to history so quickly after Jasper and I's encounter in the hallway. I hadn't the faintest idea of what had driven him to act so strangely, and I wasn't sure I'd be able to face him again without flushing awkwardly.

So when I arrived to class before Jasper, I decided that the easiest way to go about things was to avoid making a fool of myself altogether by immersing myself in a worn copy of one of my favorite books , which easily captured my full; attention within minutes.

It wasn't long, however, until pale, slender fingers invaded my line of sight, deftly pulling the book from my grasp. Jasper held the novel aloft, standing in front of my desk, a dubious look plastered on his face as he scanned the cover.

" _Gone with the wind?"_ He questioned, a small smirk gracing his features as if there was something mildly humorous about the classic. "I never would've pinned you for the Scarlett O'Hara type."

I hummed, fiddling with one of the rings adorning my fingers. "Neither would I, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate her more… _combative_ personality." I said, a bit shaken at his silent approach.

He regarded me silently, and I could see the cogs turning in his head just before the ever-interruptive Mr. Jefferson rushed him into the seat beside mine.

The lecture provided by the portly man proved to be exceedingly dull, and I soon found myself doodling in the corner of my page rather than taking notes.

 _Who knew someone's voice could be so monotone?_

I was overjoyed upon hearing the shrill ring of the bell marking the end of class, unable to sit through another minute of his butchering of what was otherwise my favorite subject. Just before zipping my bag closed, the same pale hand from before shot into view, carefully placing the worn copy of _gone with the wind_ in the main pocket.

I jumped slightly, shooting a slight glare in Jasper's direction. "Do you have a habit of not announcing your presence, or do you just relish in scaring the hell out of people?'

He smiled then, just slightly. "Both?"

A small laugh escaped me, but that seemed to happen quite easily around Jasper. I was surprised, however, when he fell into step beside me. I regarded him inquisitively.

Noting this, he supplied an explanation. "I'm simply making sure you find your way to the lunchroom," he said, a ghost of a smile on his lips.

I found banter with Jasper to be rather enjoyable, so I took the bait. "Oh? And why's that?"

He put a hand to his chest in mock offence. "Do you doubt my good samaritanism?"

Upon seeing the look I gave him, he seemed to reevaluate his response. "Because I want to." Another second went by. "Because you..." he seemed to ponder his wording. "Interest me."

"Interest you?" I repeated a bit incredulously.

"I suppose that's a way to put it. You're intriguing." He said.

I fought back the slight warmth that that rose to my cheeks.

 _He doesn't mean it in that way,_ I reminded myself. "Well thank you, I suppose." I thought a for half a moment. "The same can go for you, you know." I added, nudging him with my elbow.

This surprised even myself, but what was even more surprising was the way my skin buzzed ever so slightly where we'd touched.

He regarded me with a new interest, his eyes slightly brighter as he shouldered one of the large double doors into the cafeteria open. Holding it as I walked through, he stopped before progressing to his table, rather turning to face me fully.

"I suppose I'd just like to figure you out," he said cautiously.

I was just about to respond when I was interrupted by something firmly hitting the back of my head. Turning, I realized that it had been Eric who'd thrown a carrot stick to get my attention, who was now being hit upside the head by Jessica.

"I suppose that'd be my cue to let you go," Jasper said, chuckling slightly despite the slightly frustrated edge to his features.

I nodded, albeit regretfully. "I'll see you around?" Jasper simply nodded in response, offering a small smile before departing to his lunch table.

Unfortunately, it seemed that nothing escaped Jessica Stanley. As soon as I sat down at the table, she leaned in with uninhibited interest. "I can't believe Eric interrupted that," she started, shooting a glare towards the boy in question, though it didn't seem like he particularly regretted it. "You and Jasper were _totally_ having a moment."

I stiffened a bit. "What? No!" I started, struggling a bit for a response. "No, I don't think I've ever had a _moment_ with anyone. We were just talking."

Angela took this moment to join the conversation. "Talking is pretty much enough," she said, though her tone was much less interrogative than Jessica's had been. "I've never seen Jasper talk to anyone, really, at least outside of his family."

Mike laughed without humor. "Jeez, you new girls come in and decide to get all cozy with the Cullens, huh?" Though it was meant as a joke, the slightly desirous stare he aimed towards Bella made his true feelings quite apparent.

Bella seemed a bit uncomfortable, at least more so than usual. "Jeez, Mike, you'd think we weren't allowed to make new friends," she said. Though her tone was teasing, the weight behind the statement made it clear that she was attempting at creating a firm boundary between a friendship and something more. Poor guy.

I laughed, trying to ease the obvious tension. "They just want to keep us all to themselves, I guess." I aimed the statement towards Bella, who seemed to realize my subtle attempt at bringing the conversation back to a more casual note, as she shot me a thankful smile.

I decided that my suspicions around Bella and the youngest Cullen boy were founded, as I took into account the way she shot a glance towards the table. I couldn't blame her, as I took into account the stark difference between Mike's baby face and over eager disposition and Edwards more mature, angular face and reserved nature.

As my eyes wandered over to Jasper, I realized that Bella and I had more in common than I'd thought. For one thing, we were both the new, unwilling objects of interest in this tiny town. And unfortunately, I reasoned that we may both have some unwanted admirers, as I took into account how eager Mike seemed to capture her attention, as well as the way Eric had interrupted Jasper and I's conversation. Finally, it seemed that we may also have both been unwillingly allured by one of the unexplainably attractive members of the Cullen family, though I was still sorting out the strange way I felt around Jasper.

I decided then that I'd find friendship in Bella Swan.

 **A/N: Hope you enjoyed having Jasper and Ana finally interact! Leave a review and tell me what you think!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hey guys, hope you enjoy this new chapter. Make sure to review!**

 **Review from YourAlphaWolf- Ask and you shall receive! …Eventually ;)**

Throughout my first week at Forks High School, I had not only gotten closer to Bella, but the rest of the lunch group as well. It had turned out that I shared English with Ben Cheney and Angela Webber, as well as last period gym with Bella, Mike and Jessica. Conversation seemed to flow easier between us all now, and I soon found myself feeling a bit of familiarity with my new routine by Friday.

One thing I had learned already was that Bella was absolutely _hopeless_ at anything requiring just the least bit of athleticism. It was slightly comical, really, the way she seemed to attract the volleyball even as she desperately avoided it. It was making itself quite apparent this particular gym period, much to my amusement. She had already gotten targeted by the ball three or four times before I took a little pity on the girl, intercepting any of the passes coming her way. Bella's appreciation was almost tangible as she rubbed the angry red marks the volleyball had left on her forearms as we walked into locker room.

"You're a lifesaver" she said, her tone thankful as she continued to regard the marks.

"I really thought you were exaggerating when you said you _couldn't_ play volleyball, but I guess you really… _can't"_ I responded, a small chuckle escaping me. She glowered, throwing her sweaty gym clothes into her locker, which was adjacent to mine.

"It's not funny to taunt the athletically impaired."

I put my hands up in surrender before sorting through the tangled mass of hair atop my head, working through the snares as I pulled it into the semi-presentable ponytail it had been in before the match. Bella seemed to regard me with a different sort of thoughtfulness before speaking again. "Hey, you're actually pretty good," she started, pulling on her Henley shirt before adding, "At least I think so. It's kind of subjective coming from me, you know, since I _can't_ play volleyball."

Before I had the chance to respond, Jessica appeared from another row of lockers, combing through her neat chestnut curls. "You actually are," she joined in, unabashed that she had evidently been listening in on our conversation. "Why don't you join the team?" she continued, sounding hopeful. "Tryouts start next month."

I hesitated. "Well, I did used to play at my old school." It was true; I had played for the school team the start of middle school. But it was also true that I had stopped for a particular reason. The same reason that I had stopped doing many of the things I loved, actually. _Virginia._ My sister had been the captain of the Varsity team before graduating, and had taught me just about everything regarding the sport. It was in her old and me down knee pads that I'd played my first match, and it was her that had kept me out until the sun had set practicing everything in the book. Bumps, sets, spikes, digs and everything in between. She had wanted me to be the best.

So naturally, after the crash, I could hardly stomach playing for the team. Seeing all the same jerseys that she'd once worn proudly, seeing our last name plastered on the back of my uniform. It had all but driven a knife into my heart to continue playing without her. The same day I'd been discharged from the hospital, I packed up all my gear, all my trophies, team pictures and mementos into a box and hadn't opened it since.

Bu maybe this would different. Making the screaming blue and yellow jerseys of Forks high wouldn't remind me of her. Maybe I could bare hearing people shout my last name without feeling my gut wrench. Maybe it could be good for me, healthy, even. Maybe even _fun?_ I could scarcely remember the last time I had pure, unadulterated fun, the kind of fun not clouded with grief.

I blinked away my thoughts, realizing that Jess had been talking throughout my entire internal monologue.

"The teams just gone so downhill lately, honestly. I really feel like we just need someone new to spark things up. I mean, the only person I talk to anymore is Lauren," she said, her tone dropping a bit in slight distaste. "Don't get me wrong, I like, love Lauren, but sometimes she can just be so _ugh,_ you know?"

I nodded in what I hoped seemed like genuine sympathy, thankful she hadn't noticed me zoning out. It seemed luck wasn't fully on my side though, as it looked like Bella had. She regarded me with interest, her brow slightly furrowed and her chocolate eyes clouded with a hint of concern. I broke eye contact quickly as I shouldered the door to the parking lot open, hoping she'd drop it.

Jessica's seemingly endless chattering seemed to finally come to a halt as she posed a question. "So, will you join?"

I paused once again. I didn't want to say _yes,_ but much to my surprise, I didn't really want to say _no_ either. "I'll _think_ about it," I said, putting a particular stress around the word think as to not get Jess's hopes up. It seemed to be in vain, however, as she squealed in delight.

" _Yes!_ Oh it's going to be so much fun. Just wait, you'll love it so much." I didn't really have the time to discourage her, though, as she saw Mike from across the parking lot, shooting longing glances at Bella. Jess must have misdetermined where exactly his gaze was aimed, as her smile widened before rushing over to his old, beaten up suburban.

I rubbed my temples, sighing. "I didn't even say yes."

Bella smiled slightly "That's Jess for you." She paused in a thoughtful way before continuing. "By the way, were you alright back there? In the locker room, I mean." She said it casually enough, but the interested glance she shot me out of the corner of her eye showed her suspicion.

"What? Oh, yeah, my mind just ran away from me is all." I responded nonchalantly, hoping she wouldn't see through my ruse.

She seemed to pause before nodding hesitantly. That was something I liked about Bella. She wasn't clueless, but she could also take a hint.

Soon enough, we reached my aged truck which just happened to be parked in the row across from her ancient one a few spots down. I threw my bag in the bed, letting out a hefty sigh. "Thank God it's Friday. I don't think I could stomach one more period with Mr. Jefferson," I said, the corners of my mouth drooping in distaste. "Do you take honors U.S? I'm sorry if you do because that man is so-"I cut myself short upon realizing she wasn't listening to me. In fact she was hardly in the same universe as me. No, she all but forgot my existence as she stared across the parking lot at Edward Cullen, who was returning her gaze with burning intensity. _Weird._

I tried to be patient, really, but as the interaction dragged on I began to feel out of place in the moment, like a stranger in their bizarre moment of intimacy. I nudged Bella's leg with my foot to remind her of my presence. "Hey, could you stop mentally undressing tall dark and handsome over there? It's kinda creepy."

Bella pinned me with an incredulous glare. "I was _not_ mentally undressing him!" She hissed, stumbling over her words. "He's-he's _insufferable."_

I rolled my eyes. "Sure, sure, you're _saying_ one thing, but the goo- goo eyes you make at him say _something_ _else,"_ I teased, waggling my eyebrows.

Bella smacked my arm with a thick biology textbook, making me burst out laughing. "As if _you_ don't do the same thing with someone else," she countered, nodding back towards Edward's silver Volvo. Jasper had appeared there at some point, engaged in conversation with his sibling.

I gasped in mock offense. "I have _never!_ " I giggled, dodging another attack from her biology book. _There's really no need to with those tight shirts, really…_ I thought; chastising myself before my thoughts could drift any further into that sort of territory.

Standing there, bantering with Bella, dancing around her halfhearted attempts to hit me, a thought struck me. I _was_ having fun. I was actually kind of happy. Not the kind of happy I had once been, of course, not a permanent, default kind of happy. But I was laughing, giggling even. Genuinely, not for show, and over trivial things. I was actually making friends here. I hadn't had that feeling in a long time. I was too alone in Vermont, closing myself off from all my old friends. They had of course tried to wait out my period of distance, but the end had never really come, and I didn't really blame them for giving up after so long.

But here in Forks, I was starting to make a bit of a place for myself. I was getting a new start, with new people. I was excited for the future, in the first time for a very long time.

Looking over Bella's shoulder, I was surprised to find Edward staring holes into me. Not in the appraising, romantic way he had done with Bella, but rather a look of perplexment and a hint of something else I couldn't quite make out. Something…mournful maybe?

Though it certainly seemed that way, I could in no way imagine what would cause the lanky boy to look at me that way. He didn't even know me, after all. I fiddled with the spine of my folder in discomfort.

I laughed lightly, though it was somewhat strained under his gaze. "He sure is strange, isn't he? Just so broody," I noted, studying his tightly drawn features. He really didn't seem like a high school junior to me, with the way he always looked so contemplative. His personality seemed to be in stark contrast to the rest of the student body's teenage antics.

Bella huffed. "You have no idea," her tone dripping with annoyance. The start of one of Washington's iconic rainfalls cut our conversation short. As soon as the fat drops had started falling from the sky, Bella all but ran to her abused Chevy, the wind tousling her chestnut hair.

I chuckled to myself at her haste to escape the weather. It was quite ironic for Bella to be living in Washington, what with her disdain for all things wet and cold. I was just about to follow in suit, taking refuge in my car until Carter appeared, when a particularly strong gust wrenched by history folder from my grasp. I hurried to gather the papers that had so quickly been splayed on the ground, some of which had been blown into a nearby shallow puddle.

I groaned at my own luck as I noticed that the pages had been thoroughly soaked, the ink now all but illegible. I was so preoccupied with this that I hardly noticed the appearance of a pair of bulky black leather boots entering my peripheral. It was not until his masculine, pale hands began gathering the papers as well did I truly notice Jasper's presence, startled by his silent approach.

My lips parted slightly as my eyes found his, which were dancing with amusement. I fumbled over a thank you that I was hardly conscious of, my heart quickening at his closeness.

"Making a habit out of this, aren't we?" He said his perfectly bowed lips quirking up at the side.

"Not intentionally," I quipped, praying he wouldn't notice my skittishness. He hummed slightly in response, plucking the ruined notes out from the pool of water, his eyes scanning them as he tried to make sense of the blotted ink. Finally, his brows rose in recognition.

"Yesterday's notes?" He asked rhetorically, swinging his own bag off of one muscled shoulder. I quirked a brow in puzzlement as his long fingers danced through a neatly organized group of pages before extending one towards me.

At first I just stared at it blankly before he gave me an expectant look. I reached forward hesitantly, taking the page and noting how his cool fingers seemed to unnecessarily brush against mine. My eyes widened in realization upon reading the first few lines of text.

"I couldn't take your notes" I said, surprised he'd even offered them. "We have a test next week anyways, so you'll need them." I tried giving them back, but he only shook his head resolutely.

"I don't need them, honest. I mostly take notes to get Mr. Jefferson off my back" he replied, smiling slightly. I tried to ignore the way my heart seemed to skip a beat upon hearing his accent.

I gave him a skeptical look "Really?"

He simply nodded in response, pressing the pages into my hands with more firmness than the last time. I opened my mouth to thank him once again when a higher, more musical voice entered our conversation.

"There you are," Alice Cullen said, fixing Jasper with a pinning gaze, her high heeled boots clicking on the pavement as she approached us. Her demeanor shifted as she threw a warm smile my way. "Hello, Diana. I hope you don't mind me stealing him? Rose is going to be out for blood if this one keeps her waiting any longer."

Though I didn't particularly like the idea of Jasper leaving, it was hard to not just go along with anything Alice said. Not that I could really make him stay, anyways. "Of course," I answered, tucking a stray ringlet behind my ear.

"I'll see you in French on Monday?" Alice asked hopefully, turning to leave.

"Of course." I replied, smiling.

I nodded to Jasper, slightly more reserved. "And thank you," I murmured, holding up the notes slightly.

Jasper simply tilted his head downwards in acknowledgement. "Goodbye, Diana."

After that, I had hardly noticed Carter's arrival, but rather pondered how Jasper Hale could make the name I was usually not fond of sound so musical. I supposed it was his smooth voice that coated each word like honey. I was almost sure that he could make anything sound perfect, even my old fashioned first name.

That night, I was all too absorbed in the copy of notes he'd given me. I had not really absorbed the contents well at all, but rather I was studying the delicate loops of the writing. His handwriting was strange, I had decided. It was not like the hurried, untidy scrawl most teenage boys had. No, it was more like calligraphy. He wrote in a complicated script that I could never even hope to imitate. My fingers gently traced the large loops that each letter sported late into the night, and my mind clouded with thoughts of a charming southern accent before sleep chased all my thoughts away.

 **A/N: Finally another chapter! I would love to hear some feedback on this one. What do you guys think about the pace? Are things going too fast or too slow? Let me know!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Two chapters in one weekend? One being 4k+ words? I think that's a new record haha. Hope you enjoy, and let me know what you think of the pace of this story.**

 **Review from Guest (chapter 3): Thank you so much! Reviews mean so much to me and help inspire me to write new chapters. Enjoy!**

The weekend passed by without incident, consisting mostly of unpacking, homework and family dinners.

The one interesting thing that had happened was that a minimal amount of snow had come down amongst Fork's constant rainfall. Being from Vermont, of course, snow was almost as common as oxygen. From what I'd gathered, though, it was a very rare occurrence in Washington.

This thought was solidified by the texts I'd gotten from both Jess and Bella. Jess had sent a picture of a measly amount of snow that'd stuck to her front steps along with about a dozen smiling emoticons. Alternatively, Bella had lamented over the weather, insisting that she'd slip at least two times more than was normal for her. Personally, I shared Jessica's feelings more than I did Bella's.

Snow had always been my favorite kind of weather, just above rain. I supposed rain would seem much more lackluster to me now, though, living here.

When I woke up on Monday morning the room seemed slightly brighter. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I rolled over, checking the fluorescent red numbers of my alarm clock.

 _Eight thirty._ I thought, rolling back onto my side, my eyes drifting shut.

" _Eight thirty?!"_ I said aloud, shooting up, throwing my tangle of blankets off. Eight thirty was almost an hour later than the time I'd normally be leaving for school, and my parents would _kill_ me for missing almost two periods of class.

I hardly even realized what clothes I was throwing on, nor did I take the time to run a brush through my hair. My footfalls were heavy as I descended the stairs, buttoning the old flannel that had been the first thing I saw on my way out of my bedroom.

I was surprised to see Carter sitting on the couch in his pajamas, his eyes fixed on the television that had only just been hooked up over the weekend.

"What are you _doing?"_ I asked incredulously, pulling on my coat which was hung by the door. "Why didn't you wake me up? And why aren't you dressed?" I continued my onslaught of questions as I laced my boots tightly.

Carter seemed a bit amused as he watched my frenzy. "It's a two hour delay," he said, his voice slightly hoarse. "And I'm not going in, I'm sick." He seemed slightly pleased at that as he wiped under his nose.

Where I'd normally have doubts about his supposed sickness, there was a strange pallor about him.

My brow furrowed as I looked at him "Why would we have a delay?"

Carter simply nodded to the window, choosing to focus his attention on the re-run of one of his favorite shows rather than answer me.

Sure enough, when I peeked through the thick curtain that adorned the large window, I was greeted by a blanket of snow covering as far as the eye could see.

"Oh." I said lamely, my hands falling at my sides. "Where are Mom and Dad?"

"Work." He replied simply through a mouthful of cereal.

While Dad had of course fallen in with a local logging company, my Mother had taken up a part time job at the local library. She had figured that the hours would be measly enough where she'd be able to spend time with us during my Dad's longer hours, while still providing a slight amount of extra money.

I didn't respond, but rather opted to get myself some breakfast.

Afterwards, I went back upstairs to remedy my rushed ensemble. I chose to wear jeans instead of the yoga pants I'd thrown on, reasoning that the thicker material would combat the cold better. As for my hair, it seemed there was more frizz than there were curls today, so it seemed best to just pull it atop my head in a haphazard fashion. I wrinkled my nose in distaste at my reflection.

Sometimes I thought that a bun didn't suit my soft features well, and only highlighted the roundness to my face. I pulled a few curls loose to frame it in order to help that.

When it came to leave, I bid Carter goodbye as I pulled on a thick winter coat, which caused me to have a striking resemblance to an oversized marshmallow.

Settling into the driver's seat, I inserted my key into the ignition, twisting it while pulling my seatbelt on. My actions were halted when the old truck gave a slight hiss-and then nothing.

"Oh _no,"_ I whined, trying again only to be met by a second pathetic sputter.

 _Great._

My car had always been reliable enough, but it seemed like this particular snowstorm was too much for it to bear. I rested my forehead against the steering wheel, letting out a rather unladylike groan.

 _There's no way I can walk in this weather. I'd probably get lost anyways._ Unfortunately, I still didn't quite have the route to school memorized, and usually relied on Carter to indicate direction.

A thought popped into my head, a brilliant, wonderful thought.

 _Bella._

I quickly punched her number into my phone, explaining my predicament in the pleading text message. Her response came quickly enough, asking for my address. I could've cried with relief.

It turned out that we lived quite close, just about a five minute drive. I climbed out of my traitorous truck as soon as I heard the tell-tale rumbling that always signified Bella's arrival. Her truck was chugging alomg comically slow, and I figured that she must not be used to driving in the snow.

I greeted her brightly as I climbed into the passenger seat. "You are a _lifesaver._ I owe you one, Bells. _"_

The nickname seemed to catch her off guard, but she smiled in response anyways, throwing a portion of her chestnut hair behind her shoulder. "I know. Plus, now you have to admit that my truck is totally superior."

I felt my expression sour. This had been an ongoing debate over the course of last week, and it seemed like she had finally gotten the upper hand.

" _Fine._ " I muttered darkly.

Her smile only brightened as she began to drive. "What was that? You might wanna speak up, I can't hear you."

"I'm sure you can't hear anything over the horribly loud sound of this deathtrap," I shot back.

"Yes, well, at least my deathtrap starts," Bella reminded me. I laughed at her jibe at the expense of my car.

The ride seemed to go by quickly due to our friendly back and forth, which I continued as we climbed out of the cab of the trick. "So, how many times have you slipped and fallen so far?" I asked casually, hiding my cheeky grin.

"Only once," she replied, seeming a bit proud despite the obviously teasing edge to my question.

Bella's record did not stay so impressive, however, as we made our way to the main building. In fact, her number of falls tripled. I was happy to say that I'd only come _close_ to falling, losing traction a few times during our trek but never fully going down. As for Bella, though, I was almost certain she'd have a bruise or two forming by the time we made it to the doors.

The first few periods flew by relatively well, and I was thankful for the shortened periods due to the two hour delay.

Alice had engaged me in an animated conversation about a new high-end shopping outlet that had opened in the nearby town of Port Angeles for the majority of first period.

I wasn't much of a shopping connoisseur, but I did find her childlike excitement amusing. She was so over the moon, in fact, that our mainly one sided conversation stretched into the walk from first to second period. It was only when I walked into my next class did the musical voice in my ear cease. Alice was very refreshing, with her constant positivity regarding everything. In fact, the only negative note to our conversation had been when she learned that a specific pair of shoes she'd seen on the store's website was out of stock in her size.

I had pondered the possibility of giving her a gift card to the store for most of the next two periods. By the gossip Jessica had spread, it didn't really seem like Alice would need a gift card with her father's supposedly hefty salary, but I figured it'd still be a nice gesture. _Maybe whenever I get to Port Angeles._

Unfortunately, my mood was significantly dampened when I got to history class.

It seemed that the shortened periods hadn't discouraged Mr. Jefferson from being his usual tyrant self. We had a pop quiz, which was written in large letters across the blackboard.

the portly man stood beside it, positively glowing at our discontent. I normally handled quizzes well, but a pop quiz? That was a different story. We didn't often have those at my old school. I sat with my head in my hands, wracking my brain for anything I might not know on the topic.

I was pulled from my thoughts a minute or so later by a gentle tapping on my shoulder. Jasper's bright, ochre eyes peered at me questioningly.

"Are you…okay?" he asked, a breathy laugh escaping from behind his sculpted lips. It was a little hard to stay panicked when looking at his face, I had to admit. His chiseled features captured my thoughts somehow.

I nodded to the board. "I am _so_ failing."

His eyes darted to the board and back quickly, returning his gaze back to me. He let out another one of those lopsided smiles that made my heart stop for half a second. My own eyes darted away after a second, unable to stomach how handsome his face really was. One tiny, half smile was all it took for my cheeks to heat up.

"You're smart, you'll do fine." He said the words with such conviction that it actually helped a bit.

I mean, I suppose that's what helped. It was strange, but the stress seemed to melt away just a bit, and I was able to think more clearly. I was sure that his small compliment should've caused my cheeks to flame much more than they already were, but I stayed suspiciously cool.

 _Strange._

The bit of confidence his words instilled in me encouraged me to meet his gaze once again, letting out a tentative smile "We just never had them in my old school, that's all. I always had some time to study." I took a moment to rethink the statement. "Well, not that I ever did, actually."

He laughed a little more freely at that, and I decided that I liked the way he tilted his head back slightly when he laughed in an uninhibited way, and the way that his long hair moved with his every movement.

Mr. Jefferson was between us in a second, sending a disapproving look at the both of us, despite the fact that class had not yet started. He set a thick packet on each of our desks before departing.

His back turned, the pretentiois man missed the mimicking, tightly drawn face Jasper made in his direction, which caused me to descend into poorly hidden laughter.

The quiz was absolute hell, despite Jasper's encouragement. I was stumped at the very first question. It was a major relief when the shrill ringing of the bell pierced through the silence of the classroom, marking the end of class. I wasn't even upset upon hearing we'd receive no extra time, but rather simply glad that it was over.

I was surprised to see Jasper holding the door open, despite me being one of the last people to depart from the room.

He fell into step beside me as I navigated my way through the hall. "How do you think you did?" He asked, giving me a sidelong glance.

"Oh, absolutely awful," I said, laughing lightly.

His brow creased slightly as he regarded me. "And you're…happy about it?"

The way he was looking at me as if I had grown a second head was quite humorous in my opinion. "No, I'm just happy that it's over" I corrected.

He only hummed in response, a slight smile cueing me in on his amusement. "So, how do you like the weather?" He asked, nodding to one of the large plate glass windows we passed by.

I quirked a brow. "Is my company so dull that you've resulted to talking about the weather?" He rolled his eyes good naturedly.

"No, I simply wanted to know what you think of the weather. That is usually what people want to know when they ask that question, you know."

A laugh bubbled out from my chest. "Well, if you're so curious, I love it. Reminds me of home." He walked slightly closer to avoid those walking in the opposite direction.

"Do you miss Vermont?"

"No." I cringed internally. I may have answered that too easily, too quickly and with too much finality.

To my surprise, he didn't push for an answer. Rather, he regarded me with curiosity, his eyes searching mine as if trying to solve a puzzle. His expression changed to one of thoughtfulness suddenly.

"How much do you love the snow?" There was a slightly challenge behind his eyes that confused me. I paused before answering cautiously.

"It's my favorite type of weather." He smiled then, before surprising me by taking me by the hand, pulling me out a nearby emergency exit.

Despite my confusion, I didn't resist as we stepped through the threshold into the cold air. "Are we allowed to do this?" I asked, looking up at the cloudy, grey sky from which snow was still falling.

He shrugged nonchalantly, walking lazily, though with purpose as if we had a destination I wasn't aware of. "I don't see why not."

The slight tug on my hand when he shrugged reminded me that our hands were still entwined. I hadn't even noticed, but now I couldn't help the fact that my eyes were glued to them, a slight dryness overtaking my throat.

He looked over at me, puzzled, before seeming to register my shock and following my gaze to our unified hands.

He seemed to hesitate for a moment before letting his hand fall limply to his side. I did not miss the way that his middle finger seemed to gently trail along my palm while he released my hand, leaving a trail of tingles.

The feeling of emptiness that I felt at the absence of his fingers knit with mine made me almost wish that I hadn't acknowledged the slight caress.

"Where are you from?" I blurted.

That was something I often did in slightly awkward situations, speaking without thought. It was one of those things about myself that made me cringe, but a habit that I'd never been able to shake.

He seemed taken aback by the question, standing a little straighter and raising his eyebrows slightly.

"Houston," He answered easily enough, though still seeming staggered. "Texas," He tacked on at the end, almost as if it were an afterthought.

I nodded slightly. "Sorry, I'm sure you get that a lot. I just noticed your accent and wondered," I explained, fidgeting with the edge of my folder.

"Actually, I've never been asked that. I'm sure you've noticed most people don't really mingle with us Cullens much, or we with them."

I frowned slightly, feeling my forehead crease slightly as it often did when I was troubled. I hesitated before asking my next question. "And why is that?"

He shrugged again, looking up at the clouds as we walked. "I'm not sure. No need, I guess. The people here usually prefer to gossip more than they do interact, so we just keep to ourselves." Though he didn't seem much troubled by it, I did feel a pang of sympathy for the slightly ostracized family.

"Alice is the only one who really tries to mingle, but that's Alice for you." He chuckled slightly at his own addition.

For a while the only sound was our own footfalls crunching on the ground, mine much louder than his, strangely.

"So you don't mingle." I said against my better judgement, though it was more of a statement than a question. He looked at me curiously, stopping to face my direction as he nodded in affirmation. "So why do you talk to me?"

He seemed to choose his words carefully. "Well, I told you. You interest me." I shoved my hands into my coat pockets for a bit of additional warmth as I regarded him doubtfully.

"So none of the four-hundred and fifty two other people in this school are interesting?"

"You counted?" he asked rhetorically, smirking slightly at his own quip. "You're just so…human." He finished, taking the liberty in that moment to tuck a stray curl behind my ear, his gentle fingers lingering there for just a moment.

I could see snowflakes strewn throughout his honeyed locks, settled upon his thick lashes that accentuated his warm, emotive eyes. With the snow falling softly behind him, it's paleness contrasing with his seemingly glowimg hair, he looked almost angelic. The moment was extremely quiet, that sort of quiet that only happened amongst gentle snowfall and crisp winds

I noiced how the pinkness of his perfectly shaped lips stood out from the pale coloration of his flawless face, which seemed so close… I realized then that he was close. Too close. _Dangerously close._

I cleared my throat slightly and looked away, successfully distancing his tender touch from the sensitive area between my jawline and neck. "Well so are you. You're human, I'm human. Everyone's human. So that's not a good reason."

This seemed to greatly humor him as we continued our walk. So much so that his shoulders were shaking with silent laughter and his eyes mirthful for a good time after my statement.

I shook my head, smiling lightly. "You're so weird." The otherwise rude statement was molded into something more affectionate due to the slight chuckle that accompanied it.

All too soon, we reached our destination. It had turned out that our lengthy walk had simply been an alternative route to the cafeteria, which had taken us around the better part of the main building.

I tried to hide my disappointment as I walked through the door he so diplomatically held for me, wishing that our walk had lasted longer.

"I'll see you later?" He asked a strange smile upon his lips as he stared at me.I nodded timidly, suddenly hyper aware of the attention from our classmates.

I quite disliked the way their eyes seemed to trail me as I walked from the edge of the cafeteria to my table, which was more or less stationed at the center of the large room.

The attention I got at my own lunch table was no better. In fact, I'd wager it was worse. I was hounded by Jessica upon taking my seat.

" _Oh my god._ " She put such an intense stress on each word that it was slightly alarming.

"What?" I asked cautiously. I had learned during my short time here that it was probably a bad thing to get this sort of attention from Jess.

"Don't what me! You and Jasper." She waggled her brows in a suggestive manner that staggered me.

"Me and Jasper what?" I questioned, before adding more firmly "There is no me and Jasper!"

She didn't seem to believe me for half a second. "Oh come on, what else could you be doing out there for that long?" the brunette said, fixing me with one of those looks that seemed to say 'how _dumb could you possibly be?'_

One look at the interested expressions of the rest of the lunch table let me know that I wouldn't be getting out of this one easily. Even Bella, my greatest ally here, was hanging on the edge of her seat.

"We weren't even out there that long," I reasoned, unpacking my lunch to make the matter seem as inconsequential as possible.

Jessica let out a laugh at that "Oh yes you were. Have you seen yourself?"

I looked down at my jacket to see that it was, in fact layered with a considerable dusting with snow.

Bella pointed upwards towards my head as well, her eyes betraying that it wasn't only Jessica jumping to conclusions, but that my appearance sold me out as well. Feeling my hair, it seemed like it was absolutely _coated_ in snow.

Jessica let out an impish giggle before leaning in close and whispering something in my ear that made heat rise to my cheeks instantly.

" _Jessica Stanley!"_ I shrieked, smacking her arm. She cackled in a self-satisfied way, despite my obvious displeasure. "That did not- I would never!"

The screeching of Eric's chair suddenly disrupted my flustered tirade, making me cringe at his retreating back. A pang of guilt struck me as I considered how dejected he was probably feeling. I hoped he wasn't _too_ bothered by Jessica's suggestions. _Maybe just bothered enough to discourage him from pursuing anything further than friendship._

Lunch with Jessica's hounding proved to be the most difficult part of the day, with the rest passing by like a breeze. It may have not only been the shortened periods to make this happen, but also thoughts of snow clustered on Jasper's tumbling waves that unwillingly invaded my thoughts.

Soon enough, I was waiting for Bella, leaning up against the bed of her aged truck, my copy of _Gone with the wind_ in hand.

Eventually, she made her presence known by bumping me with her hip as she tossed her bag into the car. Unprepared for the action, I stumbled slightly on a nearby patch of ice before catching myself on the side of the bed.

A wicked thought entered my mind as I stared at her. Scooping up a pile of crisp, freezing snow in one hand, hiding in being my back, I stalked towards her quietly.

Once I was close enough, I lifted the back of her shirt a bit and dropped the handful down it. Her resounding screech was enough to make me descend into uncontrollable laughter.

With vengeance in her eyes, Bella flung her own mass of snow at me, which hit its mark.

I laughed, takint refuge by ducking behind her truck. We continued on with our childish game until she stiffened, not even flinching at the ball of snow I slung at her.

"Giving up?" I asked, pleased with myself.

When Bella didn't respond, I reevaluated her. She was not standing down, but rather seemed to be frozen with fear. And the stricken look in her eyes, was that... _fear?_

I followed Bella's gaze, my own eyes widening in recognition.

A navy blue van was heading towards us, its speed and proximity made me uneasy. It was much too close to be going that fast.

It seemed to lose traction as its backend swerved. My jaw dropped in horror. The van seemed to speed up, going haywire towards Bella.

Suddenly, the scene was all too familiar to me. The screeching of the tires, someone screaming, the sensation of panic I remembered all too well. Looking at Bella, she reminded me of someone that I used to know.

Her hair was longer, slightly curled. Her build was taller, more athletic. She'd lost some of the roundness of a teenager, but was somehow older. Her chestnut hair had taken a darker hue than what I knew Bella's was. _Virginia._

I saw my sister there, frozen in front of the out of control car where I knew it was Bella who stood. My mind seemed to link the two, even though I knew with certainty that Gina was just a mirage.

It almost seemed like a second chance. There was no way that I could go back in time to save my sister, but who was to say if I could prevent the same fate from befalling Bella?

It didn't matter to me. Bella or Virginia, I wasn't letting this happen to me again. I refused to stand idly by, watching the life of someome I cared for be snatched before my very eyes.

Though I hardly was aware of moving towards her, I was there in a second. My heart beating out of my chest, I flung Bella's thin framw behind me, hearing her hit the trunk of her car with a _thud. Oh, well. That would probably hurt less than a van._

In the split second that I could see over the hood of the car, I saw a third face. Jasper.

Time seemed to slow slightly as I saw his beautiful features, which were currently twisted into a horrified expression. I didn't quite like him looking like that. It was strange, how slow my mind moved when I knew the world around me was supposed to be fast.

I suppose Jasper's face wouldn't be a terrible last sight. Sure, I hadn't know him veru long, but he was a friend. An attractive face was better to see in your last moments than none at all, I supposed. I noticed certain features more than I had before then, with time moving like molasses. He had a cleft in his chin. That was nice. And despite the terror in his eyes at the moment, they were still that pretty golden color.

I was confused when I saw that his burly brother had this thick arms wrapped around him, his muscles tense with what seemed like immense effort as he restrained Jasper. That was strange.

Alice was there, too. Her tiny little china doll face was twisted in shock. That was sad. Alice had one of those faces that should never be anything but smiling. I noticed how my mind strangely seemed to focus on the most inconsequential of things in my last moments, as I hoped that pair of shoes she'd fawned over earlier would be carried in her size at that new store soon.

Jasper's blood sister was there, too. What was her name again? Something with an R. Rosanna? I guess it doesn't matter now. Though I'd never spoken to her, I took the time to study her expression as well. She definitley didn't seem as torn apart by the scene unfolding before her, but there was an oddly regretful, mornful look plastered over her beautiful face.

The other one was missing, I noticed. The one Bella liked. Edward. Yes, that was his name.

 _Shouldn't this be over now?_

It seemed like hours had passed. Or maybe they were minutes. Who was to say?

all too soon, time seemed to speed back up again. I felt an impact, like a brick wall, and heard the crushing of metal and the breaking of glass. That must be the van.

 _This isn't hurting as bad as I thought it would._

I only felt pain in some places. My shoulder, that hurt a lot. I heard a disgusting crunch as pain bloomed across that area. Before I even knew I was falling, I felt my head smack against what I assumed to be the pavement with a sickening _crack._

Suddenly it was a lot harder to think as clearly as I had been. Things seemed to be more muddled, broken up by the sound of screeching tires and screams. Then, there was nothing.

 **A/N:** **Be proud of this super long chapter lol. Please review!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** **A snow day was the perfect opportunity for a new chapter, so I hope you enjoy. Things are speeding up a bit! This story will follow some of the main events in** _ **Twilight**_ **but not perfectly, and I plan on including other events of my own. Leave a review and let me know what you think about the events, character development or whatever comes to mind!**

 **Also, we've surpassed 20k words! Woohoo!**

 **Review from guest (Chapter 3** **): Thank you so much for your review! I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

 **Review from steph557 (Chapter 4):** **Hi! I was intending for her name to be pronounced like Anne-uh (Like the inflection behind** _ **Ann**_ **ie) since it comes from Diana.**

 **Review from steph557 (Chapter 8** **): I knowww I'm so excited to finally be getting to some of the more interesting parts of the story! I fear that some people have dismissed this story as boring for going through eight chapters of day to day life and conversations, but I was also very set on not rushing into the world of vampires and romance in the first few chapters, since overly- fast plots in fanfiction are a major pet peeve of mine. I'm glad you like the character development as well, since I was also hoping to avoid making the cliché perfect, gorgeous, funny and flirtatious main characters of fanfiction. I hope you leave more reviews, they made my day! : )**

 **Review from Juli Greenthorne** **(Chapter 8)** : **Thank you! I've been so worried about boring potential readers to death by going too slow. Thank you for reviewing, getting reviews is honestly my favorite thing in the world.**

A blue van, screeching tires and someone yelling. That wasn't much to go off of, but it was pretty much all I had. My brain felt muddled, like I was trying to claw my way out of a deep sleep. I'd heard something a while ago, at least I think so. Something distant, like a group of people calling out to me from far away while I was lost in a thick, grey fog.

There wasn't any pain though. That was a positive. If I hadn't had my own conceptions of the afterlife, of heaven and hell, I might have thought that I was dead. But if this was what awaited everyone after death, then it kind of sucked. Being alone in the dark cavern of your own mind paled in comparison to those near death experience stories I had heard about, the ones where people see sunny, rolling hills and lost loved ones before being revived and wrenched back to earth.

If it weren't for my gently religious upbringing, this may have been a convincing enough purgatory. But once I lost my sister, I had thoroughly committed myself to ideas of the glorious afterlife that people so often preached about. So I was pretty sure I was alive.

Eventually, the fog began to thin. I had more of a sense of myself. I could map out my physical self well enough, and did a kind of checklist regarding my body. I was vaguely aware of my toes being attached to my feet, which then branched into my legs, both of which seemed to be connected to my hips. _That's good._

I felt the weight of my arms being attached to my shoulders, and my arms to my fingers which I found I had mobility over. In fact, I could wiggle all ten of them, just slightly. I made sure to count twice, just to be sure that all ten were there. They were.

With a bit of effort, I was even able to peel open my eyes. That didn't do much to clear up my confusion, though, as I was simply met with a pristinely white ceiling. Suddenly, a familiar, technological sound pierced the silence. A steady, rhythmic beating. _My_ heart beat. For all intents and purposes, that should've been a relief. I was alive. But for me, it certainly was not.

Rather, my mind was flooded with memories. Were they memories? Or were the worst moments of my life just stuck on replay? Maybe I was dead and had gone to hell, where I would be forced to relive the worst day of my life for all eternity.

I heard the beeping of the monitor quicken, felt my heart hammering in my chest.

I could almost see the doctor that had treated me all those years ago, entering the room with a mournful look on his face. I could remember trying my best to call out for my sister, my voice being much too weak to carry. I could almost hear my parent's hoarse voices, how they had trembled when they'd told me that one of us had not been pulled out of the car alive.

My body was hot, everything was hot. I felt as if I were boiling from the inside out. Like a tiny little person stuck in a body I had no control over. In fact, I didn't have control. I could not control the heat that consumed me, or the trembling of my hands. I felt as if a thousand pound weight was settled on my chest, triggering the dizziness and quick, erratic breaths that overtook me.

I was hardly aware of my surroundings, of the thin curtain that closed me off from the rest of the world until it was jerked back. The man who had done so hastened to my bedside, placing a firm hand over my shoulder. He glanced at the monitors quickly, his eyes frantically scanning each machine, flicking back and forth between the readings before they returned to mine. He mumbled some calming words in a hushed tone that I hardly absorbed, though they calmed me slightly nevertheless.

When my heartbeat slowed and breathing evened, I regarded the man. His crisp white lab coat betrayed the fact that he was indeed a doctor, though certainly not the one that had treated me after the collision that killed Virginia.

No, I was sure that I would have remembered this man. He had flaxen hair that was slicked back smartly, and an extremely handsome face that sported angular cheekbones and eyes that almost matched his hair, which were swimming with concern.

"Are you alright, Miss Lansing?" His voice was smooth, though significantly altered by an underlying worried tone.

I nodded slightly, though I was still not fully convinced myself. "What's the date?" My voice was slightly hoarse, though not extremely so. The man seemed confused as he thought for half a second.

"January thirtieth," He supplied. Upon seeing my expectant look, he tacked on a second statement. "Two thousand and five."

He seemed thoroughly confused before a spark of realization entered his eyes, and he made a noise of understanding. "Ah, I see." He straightened slightly, smoothing his coat over. "Your parents informed me of the incident a few years ago, which I am very sorry to hear of."

His tone suggested that he knew of my sister's fatality, and I was surprised by how genuine he seemed. "I thought you may have a bit of a sort of relapse of memory, but your visit here is completely unrelated. You were admitted for some minor injuries sustained while saving a friend of yours from a haywire car."

I was beginning to remember a bit of what had happened. "Bella," I said aloud. "Is Bella okay?"

The doctor nodded, producing a small flashlight from his pocket. "May I?" He asked, nodding to the device. I complied nonverbally with a simple nod of my head.

He elaborated as he shone the light in my eyes, testing their dilation. I involuntarily squinted at the moderate pain it caused. "Your efforts were not in vain, as she has sustained only the most minor of injuries. An extremely mild concussion at best."

I nodded in response, relieved that my friend was alright for the most part. "You, however, seem to have a slightly more serious concussion. Nothing too detrimental, though."

A second relief. Before I was fully in the clear, though, the man continued. "I did, however want to check your arm. Despite how shaken she was, Bella managed to tell me that you seemed to land on it at an awkward angle. Is there any discomfort?"

I tested the water by moving my right arm, which I did with ease. Upon moving my left arm, though, I a stab of pain manifested itself around my shoulder area.

The doctor nodded pensively, reaching over and feeling along my arm until he made his way to the source of the pain. Despite its tenderness, his hands were extremely gentle.

He nodded after a few moments, taking the time to scribble something on the clipboard that had lain abandoned at the foot of the cot I sat on since he'd entered the make-shift room. "You've a _slightly_ fractured collarbone. It will need a sling for a few weeks but isn't too serious. Is that your dominant arm?"

I shook my head in response.

"Shame, you won't even have the benefit of not being able to write for more than a few days once your head heals up." he said, chuckling.

His friendly disposition shifted to something more somber as he spoke again. "I want you to know that you are _extremely_ lucky Diana. You've walked away from the accident with minor injuries, but it's really a wonder that you walked away at all."

I paled at the weight of his statement. My parents were surely going to be livid. They'd been extremely over protective since the loss of one child, and now I had willfully put my life at risk.

My brow furrowed as I considered something else. "So if my injuries are minor, why was I unconscious?"

The doctor nodded once more. "Well, where we can't be sure, I'd wager that it was a combination of hitting your head and reliving a traumatic experience in a way. You'll often find that when those who have lived through something that left a significant emotional trauma will react negatively to any situation that remotely resembles it. So I would say that a car accident triggered memories of the wreck you'd already been in. It was sort of an emotional overload in addition to the head injury, which led to you losing consciousness, as well as your," He seemed to ponder the right words. " _Anxiety_ when I entered the room."

I nodded in understanding before cringing slightly. "Have you seen my parents?"

The man let out a slight laugh as he tucked his pen into the pocket of his lab coat. "Yes, but I'm afraid _that_ is not a problem I can help you with."

I smiled at his joke. "Well thank you for everything doctor-"I paused upon realizing that I'd never learned his name amongst my panic earlier.

"Cullen." He supplied with another smile, this one wider than the others. I realized then that he was _very_ attractive, moreso than I'd originally realized. _Cullen. That makes sense._ Those two things really did seem to go hand in hand.

"Cullen," I repeated. "As in Alice Cullen?"

Doctor Cullen nodded. "Ah yes, my daughter. I wasn't aware that you knew my kids."

Those words certainly seemed strange coming out of his mouth. He seemed much too young to have so many kids in high school, despite the fact that I knew they were adopted. A man his age might have a toddler or two, but five high schoolers? The thought was certainly odd. I wondered what had possessed him to adopt children so close to his own age.

I smiled. "Both Alice and Jasper." Something strange seemed to enter his eyes then, though I could not place it. Some sort of recognition maybe? Understanding? The thought was swept from my mind as he changed the topic.

"So, I'll get that sling fitted for you and you'll be on your way." He paused for a moment before finishing "And I'll try my best to calm your parents as much as I can." And with that he left, humor dancing in his eyes at the impending lecture coming my way.

* * *

All too soon, there was no escaping the wrath of my parents. The curtains were jerked open a second time, only this time I was fearful of who was on the other side.

My parents were a mix of many things. Anger, relief, tears, _anger._ My Mom was on me in a second, crushing me in a hug that put just a little too much pressure on my injured collarbone to be comfortable. She sniffled loudly, her voice muffled against my neck.

"Thank God you're okay Ana," her voice was thick with emotion. "We were so scared when we got the call, we thought…" She trailed off, though I knew what she was thinking.

My Father joined the hug as well, resting his head atop mine. He looked tired, with bags under his eyes and his thinning hair in disarray.

When they both pulled back after the long embrace, I saw that their relief had switched into something slightly harder. "What were you _thinking?"_ I cringed at her tone.

"I-"

My father interrupted me before I could get any further. "If we lost you, Diana. Do you have any idea what that would do to us? To Carter?" Despite the frustration that was obvious in his form, the hoarseness of his voice betrayed how stressful the experience must have been.

I sighed. "I know. And I'm sorry. But Bella was about to be crushed, and I-" I decided that I wouldn't tell them how much Bella had reminded me of my sister in that moment. The two shared very little physical similarities and they would probably make me see a shrink. "And I couldn't just do nothing. She was going to be _crushed._ There's no way she could've survived it, Dad."

"There's almost no way _you_ should've survived it!" He sighed, running his hand over his face before softening his tone. "Look, Diana. If it's you or someone else's kid, I'm sorry, but I _have_ to pick you. We can't lose you."

Though the words sounded harsh coming from his mouth, I nodded anyways. If something were to happen, it would be detrimental to the family. I hardly even noticed Carter who stood in the corner of the room. Though he didn't share the same physical manifestations of stress that my parents did, he had a ragged look about him. The relief in his eyes was almost tangible, though.

Soon enough, I was discharged from the hospital. Dr. Cullen had prescribed some pain medication as well as a few days' rest, which meant I wouldn't be returning to school for the remainder of the week. I was surprised upon entering the waiting room, as I was greeted by the faces of a good many classmates. Mainly, I saw the lunch group pooled together on one of the stiff couches.

They shot up upon seeing me, and I was captured in Jessica's vice grip of a hug.

"Did you really have to jump _in front_ of a car? You could've just pulled Bella to the side!"

I laughed just a little bit, though I'm sure she didn't mean it as a joke. "Go big or go home?"

That drew a laugh out of Mike, who punched my non-injured arm lightly. "That's the spirit. I'm glad you're okay though, Ana."

Angela engulfed me in hug that was much gentler than Jessica's, murmuring how thankful she was that I was largely unharmed. Eric and Ben had done largely the same, though their hugs had been shorter.

"Thank you guys for waiting for me," I said, smiling at all of them. "Has Bella gotten out yet?"

Jessica was the first to answer, as per usual. "She got out ages ago, but her Dad wouldn't let her wait around. Said she needed rest and all that. She's okay, though."

I nodded, once again relieved to hear that she was mostly unscathed. I peered around them, questioningly. "Where's Tyler?" I didn't know the boy so well, but we had had enough conversations to warrant a visit to the hospital, or at least I thought so.

"He got discharged a while ago, too, around the same time Bella did." Mike said.

I frowned in confusion. "Discharged? Why was he admitted in the first place?"

It was Eric who piped up "Didn't you hear? He was the one driving."

My eyebrows shut up in surprise. " _Oh._ No, I didn't know that. Is he alright?"

"He's fine. Just got a few stitches in his forehead. He'll give himself a heart attack, though, with how much he's worrying about you and Bella," Ben answered before finishing "He told us to tell you he's really sorry."

I nodded, waving a hand. "Wasn't his fault. The roads were icy."

I was surprised to hear my father's voice cut into the conversation. "It damn well was his fault. It was irresponsible of him to be driving in those conditions."

I sighed at my Dad's unfortunate mixture of over protective-ness and pigheaded-ness. I started to quickly bid by friends goodbye as my Father made to pull me towards the exit before Angela interrupted.

"Wait!" she said, scrambling to the loveseat that they had occupied previous to my appearance. She produced a large tin and pressed it into my hands. "Alice Cullen dropped it off, asked me to give it to you."

Cracking open the tin proved to be tedious with the full use of only one hand. When I finally managed to open it, I found that there were dozens of home baked cookies inside, as well as a get well soon note in Alice's delicate handwriting. It was all very _Alice_ , for lack of a better word.

Afterwards, my Dad successfully pulled me away from the group, and all too soon my mandatory bed rest began.

* * *

Mandatory bed rest was torture. So much so that it was altered to mandatory house arrest, as I couldn't sit in bed any longer. I was very thankful for Dr. Cullen's prescription of pain medication since it made being active around the house much easier.

Where my Mom wasn't happy about my rebellion against bed rest, she had allowed me to do some chores around the house after my third day of complaining. Sadly, though, she had shut down all of my hopes of going back to school or getting out of the house at all. I could hardly unpack or do a load of laundry without her insisting that my _'body needs rest'_ or that I'm _'pushing myself too hard'_

Another negative of house arrest was that I was completely banned from screens or books because of the concussion. In other words, I was dying of boredom. Carter had finished off Alice's cookies within a day and a half, so those couldn't even offer a distraction. I couldn't blame him, though. They had been the best cookies I'd ever had.

I'd had a lot of opportunity to get my room together since being excused from school, which was a positive. My bed, which was now adorned with tiny fairy lights and large, plushy pillows, was pushed up against the wall adjacent to the one with the large window.

On the wall next to that was my desk, along with a few pictures I'd found and tacked up. My dresser was against the fourth one with the door that connected Carter and I's bathroom. Id chosen to keep the mature, dusky purple paint on the walls.

I almost wished that I had drawn out the process of arranging my room, as I had nothing to do at all, for the most part. This rainy afternoon was one of those times.

The rain had melted away the remainder of the snow from the day of the crash, and my parents had been forced to go back to work, unable to supervise me during my recovery any longer. Much to my dismay, my Mom had had the foresight to take my phone with her to work each day.

I was so bored, in fact, that I had even fished out the old volleyball that I had not touched since the day of the crash and was currently lying in bed, tossing it into the air over and over, as best I could one handedly. Eventually, a gentle knock at my door pulled me away from the monotonous activity.

I hadn't even realized anyone had arrived home.

My Mom stood in the doorway, following the volleyball's movement with interest. She knew that I'd refused to play since Gina's death. She must have figured that it was progress, though, as she didn't mention it.

"I know how bored you've been, Diana, so I'm making a tiny exception, just this one time."

I quirked a brow in interest, catching the ball and setting it down beside me on the bed.

"You have another visitor, but I've decided that I'll let you see this one, if you're feeling okay."

Now _that_ was interesting. I'd had a few visitors over the past few days, mostly Jess and Angela, though they were joined by Mike and Eric once.

Tyler had visited a lot, too, practically begging my parents to let him come in and make amends with me. They had turned all my visitors away, though, insisting that any distractions would only _'lengthen my healing time'._

"I feel fine," I insisted instantly, sitting up in my bed. I didn't even bother to ask who it was as she left to get my mystery visitor. I would relish in the company of anyone after being so bored for so long.

 _Hell, I'd even be happy if Mr. Jefferson came to visit._

Soon enough, my curiosity was sated as a head of chestnut hear poked into my doorway. "Bella!" I shot up out of bed, which made me dizzy despite my pain medication.

She crossed the threshold, meeting me halfway and engulfing me in a tight hug, a wide smile upon her face. "Oh my God Ana I've been trying to call you for days! Your Mom finally answered and told me she took your cellphone."

I pulled away from the hug, smiling. "Sadly. I've been _dying of boredom_."

My word choice seemed to strike a chord, as she squeezed me into another, tighter hug. "I can't believe what you did for me, thank you so much." Her words were muffled against me due to our height difference, but I heard how genuine her tone was. "When they put you on a stretcher, I thought… _everyone thought-"_

I groaned. "Everyone probably thinks I'm dead, don't they?"

Bella laughed a little bit "I'd be lying if I said that there weren't more than a few rumors. We've been trying to shut them down."

I plopped onto my bed, and Bella followed in suit as she looked around the room. Her tone was more somber than it had been when she spoke again. "Why did you do it, Ana?"

I looked at her in disbelief. "What do you mean? How couldn't I?"

"But you could've died! If you did, I-I couldn't live with myself."

"Well, I didn't die. And neither did you. So stop being all… _guilty"_ I said, gesturing at her vaguely with my hand.

She seemed to think for a second before speaking. "Can I ask something else?"

"Shoot"

"You said someone's name, right before you pushed me. And it wasn't mine." The suggestion behind her statement was evident.

I paled slightly before responding. "That's not a question, Bella."

Her brow furrowed slightly in frustration before scooting closer to me. "You know what I mean. Whose name was it?"

I saw from the look in her eye that she wasn't dropping this one. Bella could be awfully stubborn with certain things.

I sighed. "My sister"

Bella blinked in surprise, straightening slightly. "Oh. You have a sister?"

"Yes," I nodded simply, spinning the previously discarded volleyball in my hands as a distraction.

"Can I meet her?"

"No." I spun the ball again.

"Does she live here?" Bella asked, her curiosity evident.

"Nope." I felt my throat tightening slightly due to the subject.

Her brow creased in frustration. "Is she away at college or something?"

I gave Bella a look, a heavy look that I hoped carried a certain meaning across has I shook my head.

Bella blanched. _There it is._ People always do the same thing when they learn the truth. " _Oh._ Oh. She's…?" Bella trailed off, though she didn't need to finish for me to understand.

"Yes, she is." I still didn't really like to say that word. _Dead_. It had gotten easier, of course, but there was still so much finality and weight behind it.

Bella was silent for a moment, sympathy plastered across her face. "How?" she said it in a small voice, as if she were scared to upset me. That was one thing I hated about finding out. I was less Diana and more just the girl with a dead sister.

"Car accident."

Her eyes widened, as if re-realizing the significance of what had happened earlier in the week. "Oh, Ana. I'm so sorry, I had no idea-"

I waved her off. "Don't worry about it. It was a long time ago." I said, as if that made it any better.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" she asked.

I frowned. "Well people treat you different when they find out. Like you're so fragile. They avoid talking about anything that might upset you, and that only makes you think of it more. It's pretty much why we moved, among other things."

She nodded in understanding before I continued. "I would've pushed you anyways, you know. It just happened to remind me of her."

Bella placed her hand over mine. "Thank you, Ana, really."

"Of course, Bells. I care about you."

We sat in silence for a while before she spoke up again. "Are all of these flowers from Tyler?" her voice laced with amusement.

I groaned. I'd had about six vases of flowers mailed to my house, all from Tyler except for one from Eric. "Are you getting them, too?"

She nodded, giggling slightly. "Yes, but I've only gotten two, along with a thousand apologies. Poor guy, he feels _so_ bad."

"Well I'm going to feel just as bad after wringing his neck for sending so many flowers. They're giving me a headache." I said reproachfully.

He had chosen the most fragrant flowers he could find, apparently, which would have been nice if there weren't five bouquets of them. My room was suffocating with the floral smell.

"I already told him through Angela that he'd only have to feel bad if he didn't hit the breaks in time to give me more than this" I continued, gesturing to my sling.

Bella seemed to pale at this, not saying anything.

I fixed her with a questioning stare.

"Ana," she started, her voice clearly filled with anxiety as she wrung her hands. "He _didn't_ stop in time."

"What?" I said, laughing at her joke.

She didn't laugh, rather just sat there stiffly, as if she weren't kidding.

"Bella, that's crazy. I'm living proof that he did." I said more seriously.

I continued when she remained silent. "Seriously, what are you talking about?"

She squirmed in her seat slightly, seeming genuinely troubled. "You're going to think I'm crazy!"

"Bella if he hit me full on I'd have died, instantly" I said.

"Yes, I know, but he was _going_ to," she said, running a hand through her hair. I could tell that whatever she was thinking was eating her up on the inside.

"So," I started cautiously, "If he was going to, then what happened?"

"He-he s _topped_ him. Stopped the car" She said.

"Who's he?" I asked, confused.

"Edward. Edward Cullen." She seemed physically relieved to tell me, her shoulders losing some of their tension.

"So he like-jumped in front of Tyler and waved his hands around or something? I mean that's nice but I think it'd still count as Tyler stopping in time-"

" _No._ " She said with a firmness that surprised me. "Ana he physically _pushed_ the car away. With his hand."

"Bella, that's impossible, he'd be dead too" I said.

She groaned in frustration. "I know it's impossible! But it happened, you have to believe me."

I decided that reasoning with her would be the best approach. "Bella. If I didn't get hit, just slightly, then how do you explain this?" I said, gesturing to both my arm and my head once again.

"Well, you did get hit, but not fully. He pushed it away before it could do worse. And then you fell- and he caught you-but the impact was so hard against him and-"

"Bella," Interrupted her, "even if Edward Cullen _could_ stop a van with his bare hands, which is still impossible, how would him catching me break my collarbone? _And_ give me a concussion?"

"Because-well I don't know! That's what I'm trying to figure out. You have to believe me." she said, her voice desperate.

My face must have betrayed my doubts, because her shoulders dropped with disappointment as she held her head in her hands. "You think I'm _crazy."_

"Well, no," I stuttered, not wanting to offend her. "Not _crazy_ , per se, but maybe the concussion is confusing you and-"

"It's not the concussion!" She said, her tone slightly angered before she took a breath. "I'm sorry. I'm just so tired of hearing that. Look, just think about it okay?" Her eyes lit up as she seemed to remember something.

"My car! There's a dent, he left a dent with his hand, I'll show you when you're allowed back in school, and I'll _prove_ it to you!"

"Alright, alright, I'll look at your dent on Monday" I said, even though I knew it would just be from Tyler's van slamming into her truck.

 _Maybe Doctor Cullen mixed up our diagnosis, and she's the one with the more severe concussion. Either that or she's just lost it._

I sat through Bella's raving conspiracies for about forty more minutes while contemplating if faking some kind of severe concussion symptom would get her to talk about literally _anything_ else.

Eventually, My Dad appeared in the doorway announcing that Chief Swan had called asking for Bella to come home.

As I bid her goodbye, she insisted that I think of what she said tonight. I told her that I would, even though in reality I'd probably only think of it while mourning her sanity.

* * *

Later that night, I learned that visitors w _ere_ a distraction that lengthened healing time after the pain medicine wore off and I was left with a pounding headache. Maybe it was just visitors like Bella who came over to convince you that your classmate was Superman that made concussions flare up.

Either way, it hurt. I soon found myself sitting on my bay window, the lights dim med for my sensitive eyes. My head was pressed up against the cool class which seemed to distract me from the pain that reverberated through my skull.

A knock at my door caused that pain to spike, making my groan and massage my temples. My Mother was in the doorway, an apologetic look plastered across her face. "Sorry, honey."

"What is it?" I whined, looking back out the window.

"Some boy came by and dropped this off for you, and-"She started before I interrupted.

"If it's one more bouquet of flowers from Tyler Crowley, throw them out. I'm serious this time, Mom, I don't want anymore-"

"It's _not_ another bouquet of flowers, and I don't you it's rude to try and throw those out. It's your book." She said, walking across my room and placing it next to me.

I straightened, surprised as I picked up the book and turned it over. I had completely forgotten about it. There was some pretty bad water damage, but it wasn't as if the volume weren't tattered already.

"I was holding this when-well, when I got hit. I completely forgot about it. I guess it was knocked out of my hand." I said, still fingering through the pages. "Who dropped this off?"

My Mother, my happily married, middle aged Mother seemed to flush before answering, a small laugh bubbling up from her chest. "Oh he was tall, and blonde and southern and just so polite-"

I felt heat rush to my cheeks. "What was his name?" I asked, though I was sure that I knew the answer.

"Oh dear, something sort of uncommon. I can't quite remember now- something with a J? Jeremey? Jeramiah?" she said, seeming to wrack her memory.

I cleared my throat, hoping my flustered state wasn't too apparent. "Jasper?"

A smile overtook her face. "Yes! Yes, that was it, I remember now. You know that boy?"

I nodded in response, only to receive that one certain look that mothers gave their daughters when an even _slightly_ attractive boy was mentioned.

"No! No, it's not like that, Mom." I said, hoping that I sounded convincing enough.

She held up her hands in surrender, though the meaningful look in her eyes remained. "Alright, Alright. All I'm saying is that you're not gonna meet a boy with an accent like _that_ again in Washington State. Or a boy that looks like he does either, come to think of it."

I groaned. " _Mom_."

"Okay, okay! It's not like that, I heard you." She said as she left, though her tone assured me that she definitely didn't believe that it wasn't like that.

I sighed, opening my window before I headed to bed, hoping that the cool air may relieve my head just a little. Grabbing the worn book that Jasper had dropped off, I paused as I felt a strange, foreign shape to the novel. I thumbed through the pages once more until something fell from the worn book and onto the ground.

My brow furrowing as I picked it up, I realized that it was a flower. A branch of little blue flowers that had been pressed within the pages of the book.

 _Why would he-? Why would Jasper Hale ever take the time to press a flower in my book?_

But that was silly, I decided. I had probably pressed the flower myself, and left it forgotten in the pages ages ago. Yes, definitely. Boys like Jasper don't go picking flowers and hiding them in books. The idea was comical even.

But strangely as I fell asleep, I couldn't quite ever place a time when I had picked and pressed the tiny blue flowers that now lay on my nightstand. But who would remember something so simple, anyways?

 **A/N:** **Another long chapter! Please follow and review!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N Another chapter! I'm hoping to get a few in this week as its winter break. I'm so excited that we've hit 30k as well as 40 follows! I hope you enjoy and leave a review!**

 **Review from GeeImKate (Chapter 9):** **Thanks for your review! I'm so glad you enjoy Diana as well as the way that I write pre-existing characters. I really wanted to make Diana relatable, rather than a character that attempts to and falls flat. I also love what you said about her and Bella! I thought it was super important to have a strong friendship between them, because I feel that people always portray her as so broody and un-emotional, when I prefer to see a different side of her where she can be more carefree and teenager-like. I always thought that she was too stony in the movies, as well, so I never really was a Twilight fan until I read the books recently. I also try to do Alice justice; she's such a fun character! And I'm glad to hear that you enjoy the sibling bonds! I hope you enjoy and review more!**

 **Review from Juli Greenthorne (Chapter 9):** **Thank you so much! I always hate when authors rush through things super quickly, or almost exclusively write dialogue. Bugs me so much, lol. I hope you like this chapter just as much!**

It had been a full week since the accident, and I had become sufficiently stir crazy. But finally, after days of keeping myself busy with nothing but tedious chores and pestering Carter for entertainment, I was allowed to go back to school.

Monday morning proved to be quite difficult. I had spent most of my week at home in pajamas, so getting ready with one arm was an extremely awkward experience.

As I brushed my teeth, I chuckled internally at what Bella had told me about my rumored death the previous week.

 _If that's true, it'll be like seeing a ghost when I walk into first period._

Unfortunately, my truck had still not been fixed, having had to be towed by my Dad down to a mechanic shop called Dowling's. The shop had charged an arm and a leg to just do an estimate, but it was the only repair place in Forks.

This had caused a slight hitch in the Lansing family's daily routine, as my Carter now had to wake up a bit earlier to catch a ride with my dad during his commute to Port Angeles. I, on the other hand, was in luck. Upon hearing that my Ford was still out of service, Bella had _insisted_ that she drive me to school and back until it was fixed.

So, when I heard the telltale rumbling of Bella's Chevy from beyond my window, I made my way outside.

 _XXXXXXX_

 _Jasper had had a terrible week. Absolutely awful. When he had seen his mate about to be crushed by that out of control van, the deepest pain he'd felt since his days in the Southern Wars overtook him._

 _It had felt like his heart had exploded into innumerable tiny little pieces, and each of those fractals had spread throughout his whole body, burying themselves deep inside his being and causing indescribable agony. It had felt like the whole universe had lay upon his chest, crushing him to his very last nonexistent breath._

 _That was the thing about the mate bond. You were so connected, so in tuned to the other person, that when they were in danger, there was them. Only them and nothing else. The entire world faded into nothingness, because that didn't matter. Only they mattered. In fact, only they were your world. To hell with everything and everyone else. You could happily watch the entire planet burn into nothingness as long as your mate was safe from harm._

 _The mate bond brought something instinctual out n vampires. Something entirely animalistic. All of the self-control and humanization Jasper had gained since becoming a part of the Cullen family diminished._

 _He had felt like a newborn, with how carelessly he almost tore through the entire crowd that separated him and his precious Diana. At that moment, he would certainly have no qualms about ripping anyone who stood between them to shreds. He had come so quickly to exposing himself, exposing his whole family, that Emmett had needed to wrap him in his vice like grip._

 _When Emmett had done so, oh Lord. Jasper had never felt that sort of intense rage and desperation in his life. He had forgotten all of his tactical training, all of the techniques that would surely have allowed him to slip from Emmett's grasp so easily. Instead, he only struggled furiously against his gasp like a feral animal._

 _He hadn't even realized that Edward was already across the parking lot, shielding both girls from the haywire vehicle._

 _Jasper understood why Emmett had restrained him so, now that he'd had the week to calm down. He was, after all, the least resistant to blood in the entire family. Had that Bella girl even received a hairline scratch from any of the broken glass, he probably would've drained her in an instant._

 _Edward's speed had come in handy, with the younger vampire being able to slip out of Rosalie's attempts to hold him back as well._

 _Now that Jasper knew his Diana was safe from harm, he was almost reverent towards Edward. After all, it was Edward who had saved his mate from certain death. He did know, of course, that his intention had been to save Bella, and that Edward mainly saved Diana for him._

 _He had mainly shielded Bella from the crash, only remembering Diana's mortality once he knew that his own mate was safe._

 _He had pulled Diana back so instinctually that it had been quite forceful and she collided with his stone like body so hard that she'd broken a bone._

 _Though Jasper knew that saving Diana was more of an afterthought for Edward, he was thankful all the same. He supposed a slightly battered mate was better than a dead one._

 _Jasper had thoroughly ensured that Diana had survived, running in the woods alongside the ambulance that had taken her and Bella all the way to the hospital, listening to her heartbeat all the while._

 _It had been quite infuriating that he wasn't able to await her awakening in the hospital waiting room. In fact, he'd been forbidden from entering the hospital all together by Carslile. It had not been out of malice, of course, rather the fact that he knew that Jasper was not ready to successfully withstand the scent of blood that clung to the air within the hospital so strongly. It had taken Carslile himself centuries to feel in control enough to practice medicine. Even Alice was not strong enough to resist the smell, having had to wait outside for the girl's friends in order to give them the cookies she'd baked._

 _After the accident, Jasper did have to make some amends with Emmett. He had been so driven to protect Diana that he'd accidentally snapped a portion of Emmet's arm off. For this reason, it had been fortunate that their classmates were so preoccupied by the wreck. It had reconstructed itself quickly, of course, but he still ended up having to take a weekend trip to Goat Rocks to hunt grizzlies with him as an apology._

 _Another interesting feature of Jasper's week had been visiting Diana's house for the first time. Well, technically not the first time, but the first time in which anyone was actually aware of his presence._

 _It had been upsetting to see Diana's well-loved copy of Gone with the Wind lying forgotten in a puddle of slush, knocked out of her hand during the accident. He had let it dry in the sun that shone through his window before delivering it to her house, where he now lingered in front of apprehensively._

 _Upon knocking, he learned that unfortunately, his ability to withstand the scent of Diana did not extend to her family. In fact, when speaking with her mother at the door, he found it much easier to just hold his breath altogether._

 _Diana's mother was a kind woman, of similar build to her daughter. Her face was slightly more angular than her daughters, more weather-beaten and tanned as well. Her hair was entirely different, straight and sandy. He assumed that his mate took more after her father, since she shared little physical similarity with Mrs. Lansing._

 _It had been plain to see that he'd charmed the woman, though he had hardly paid attention to that when he heard an extra heartbeat in the house. In Diana's bedroom. He almost growled in displeasure, which would certainly have stricken Jen Lansing as odd._

' _If that Eric Yorkie has even thought about stepping foot in Diana's bedroom- 'Jasper had thought as he strained to make the unidentified person's scent out. He had felt Eric's emotions spike around Diana, heard his heartbeat quicken each time she smiled at him. It had made his blood boil, despite the fact that he knew that the boy's feelings were not reciprocated. He relaxed upon realizing that the scent was decidedly female, Edward's mate, to be exact._

 _His relief was short lived. If a vampire could pale, Jasper would have when his honed sense of hearing picked up on their conversation. He could hardly make out what Bella was saying, her tone hushed and hurried, as if she were anxious about someone listening in, just as Jasper was in that moment. But when Diana responded, their topic was quite clear._

" _Bella," she had said in disbelief, "even if Edward Cullen could stop a car with his hands, which he can't, he'd be dead too-"_

 _Jasper internally cringed. He knew that Edward had tried to convince Bella that it was her concussion that was confusing her, making her misunderstand what had happened that day. Apparently that hadn't worked. Judging from the inflection behind Diana's response, it was plain to see that she thought Bella had lost her mind. Jasper was thankful at this._

 _Maybe, he had thought, if the entire family acted perfectly normal, she would drop her suspicions entirely._

 _He knew that eventually, both girls would have to find out the truth. It was definite. Jasper knew that resisting the mate bond was impossible, as was keeping the truth from either of them. There would be no reasonable way to explain why nobody in the Cullen family ate, why none of them ever stepped into the sun or slept._

 _Despite this, he didn't think that either of them were ready to find out about the Cullen's vampirism. More accurately, he wasn't ready. The thought of Diana learning the truth so soon made him recoil. He wasn't sure they were close enough just yet for her to accept him in stride. In fact, what if she would never be ready?_

 _That was something that Jasper hadn't even considered in depth. What if, somehow, she chose to try to reject their bond? What if she refused to pursue immortality? What if the feeling of his cold lips upon her skin revolted her? If she yearned for someone like herself, warm and full of life? Even worse, what if he frightened her? What if she considered him to be a monster?_

 _The thought was difficult for Jasper to stomach. It made him feel as though his unbeating heart dropped down into his stomach. He wasn't even sure what he would do if Diana was disgusted by him._

 _Pressing the book into her mother's hands, Jasper bid Mrs. Lansing goodbye before returning home, obsessively stewing over anything to give him time, more time before his Diana knew the truth about him._

 _XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

"And you're sure that you're alright to come back?" She said, eyeing me dubiously from the driver's seat.

"Yes, Bella. I'm doing great, one hundred and ten percent. Fit as a fiddle." I responded, hoping it sounded genuine enough.

Truth be told, my head still pounded often and loud noises continued to make me cringe slightly. Despite this, I absolutely refused to spend even one more day sitting in the house, watching the hours go by.

 _Who knew I would miss school this much?_

Bella bit her lower lip slightly; a habit that I noticed overtook her often. "I just feel so bad-"she started, hesitating as she pulled her keys from the ignition. "I mean, if you hadn't had to push me out of the way, you'd never have had to stay home in the first place-"

I uninterrupted her self-deprecating rant with a groan. " _Bella._ Can you just shut up? Pretty please? Before I ask Tyler to have a second try at flattening me?"

Bella punched my leg lightly as she let out a laugh. "You're such a jerk. Just- Thank you, again. That's all."

"You're welcome. There you go, we're done. Now you never have to talk about how sorry you are again. Ever." I said.

Just then, Bella's eyes caught something a few rows down from the one we were currently parked in. Following her gaze, I saw none other than Edward Cullen climbing out of his silver Volvo.

I couldn't help the snort that escaped me as I spoke again. "Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, wait, its Edw-"

Bella smacked me a second time, though this time much less lightly.

"Ow! Now that's rude-"

" _Shh!"_ she hissed, her eyes widening in panic.

I raised my brows in humor. "What? He can hear us now?"

Bella cast her eyes downward in embarrestment. "Well, I don't know, but maybe-"

I interrupted her once again, faux cringing. "Maybe I should stop talking about how gorgeous you think he is, then. How much you _love_ him-"

Bella's eyes lit up in disbelief, a blush overtaking her cheeks. "I do not- When have I ever said that he's gorgeous?"

I grinned impishly. "I like to read in between the lines. You can only call someone pretentious and insufferable so many times before it translates to you having a massive crush on them."

"I do not, and will _never_ h _ave any_ feelings for Edward besides annoyance." She huffed.

"See, when you say that, it translates _to 'take me now Edward'-"_

She rolled her eyes. "Just shut up before _I_ ask Tyler to have another go at you."

I laughed as I slid out of the passenger seat, slamming the door shut behind me.

"So," Bella started timidly, "Did you think about what I said last week?"

"You're still on that?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. I really thought that she'd have dropped it by now.

"Yes," she said, deflating at my negative response. "But, I did get him to slip on some things."

 _That poor boy. She probably hounded him all week._

"He tried to convince me that he was standing right next to us," She said, her annoyance evident. "You _know_ he wasn't, right?"

"Well, yeah, he wasn't." I responded cautiously. I didn't want to encourage her theories, but what reason would Edward have to lie?

" _Exactly!_ " she exclaimed before her eyes lit up even more. "And the dent! The dent that I said I'd show you. It's right here." She said as she grabbed my uninjured arm, dragging me to the other side of the truck. "See?" She said, a smug grin plastered on her face as she pointed to a dent on the car that had not been there previously.

I leaned down as I studied the imprint. _It did look suspiciously like a hand-_

I shook the thought from my head. I would not let Bella's wild ideas affect me. There was no way someone could push a car.

"Oh, I don't know, Bells." I said apprehensively.

Her shoulders sagged slightly. "What? You don't see a hand?"

"Well, I do, but it's still impossible. You've got to realize that."

"Well that's not all!" She said, perking up slightly. He said that nobody would believe me if I told them what I said I'd seen. Isn't that a weird way to respond? Like kind of cryptic?"

"Well, yeah, but-"I started, before she interrupted me again.

"And his eyes! They change color. When I first met him, they were black. Like pitch black. And now, now they're different, like a brown-amber color-"

I froze at this installment, stricken by what she'd said. It seemed quite familiar; in fact, it was almost exactly like Jasper. I had never truly realized that his eyes were not always the warm honey color that I envisioned when thinking about him. No, when I first saw him, standing in front of Mr. Jefferson's classroom, they were as black as night.

Bella was positively glowing when she saw my expression. "See? You've seen it too, haven't you? With Alice or Jasper?"

I nodded slightly, my brows drawn together in confusion.

"Exactly! So that means that there _has_ to be something up. People's eyes don't just change color. And when I mentioned it, he gave me some lame excuse about the 'fluorescence of the lighting,' as If I would ever believe that."

"Well," I started hesitantly. "Well maybe it's like a practical joke. Like a _'see who notices first'_ kinda thing. I remember Carter did that once, when we were younger. He wore like same clothes to school for like a week and a half to see who would call him out on it."

"Ana." Bella said, her tone firm. "You _know_ something about this isn't right."

I pulled a face as I tried to reason with the side of my brain that was agreeing with her. "Well, yeah. But I don't know what to say Bella. There's no reasonable explanation." I said, frustrated with my inability to refute her logic.

"Well maybe the explanation isn't reasonable." She said, her tone heavy with suggestion.

"Well, now who's the cryptic one?" I asked, bringing a note of humor back into our otherwise serious conversation.

She rolled her eyes good naturedly. "Look, can you just accept that I have a point? So I don't go crazy?"

I sighed. "Fine. You're right that something isn't adding up. _But_ I'm definitely not on board with these superhero theories you've been telling me about. Maybe he's just on some serious kind of steroids or something."

"Well I'm just happy that you think it's all strange too. I've been going crazy the past week with nobody to talk to about it." She said as we began to walk towards the main building of the school.

I nodded as I slung my bag onto the shoulder without a sling. "I can imagine. Did I miss anything important last week?"

She shrugged. "Not a ton, except for that field trip to the greenhouse on Thursday with Mr. Varner." Bella's face lit up as if she remembered something. "Oh and Edward, he was there too. He went on this weird rant about how it would be _'better if we weren't friends, but not that he didn't want to be.'_ "Her tone was lowered a few octaves as she imitated his low, drawling voice. At least, I assume that's what she was trying to achieve, as I'd never actually spoken to Edward before.

I laughed at the mocking face she pulled during her imitation. "Have you ever considered the possibility that he has a severe personality disorder?"

Bella chuckled. "I have actually. But that's not even the worst thing that happened." She said, her face souring as she spoke. "Guess who asked me to the _girls choice_ spring fling?"

I doubled over in laugher. The annoyance in her tone cued me in to the boy in question without her having to say it explicitly. _Mike._

"So how did you turn him down?" I asked, feeling a bit of sympathy for him despite how funny I found the entire situation.

"I told him that I'm going to Seattle that weekend. " She said, looking a little guilty at the rejection that probably hurt Mike's feelings.

"And are you?" I asked, bemused.

"Yes," She started cautiously, wringing her hands. "I mean, mostly because it was a perfect excuse, but I'll still go."

I hummed, nodding." I didn't even know that there was a dance coming up."

She nodded. "Do you think you'll go?"

I took a moment to think. A dance? A _girl's choice_ dance? I wasn't even sure that there would be anyone I'd want to ask. Well, besides maybe a certain blond from history class-

 _No. Jasper and I are strictly friends. And friends don't daydream about friends._

"I don't know," I said finally as I skirted around a large puddle in my path. "Probably not. What's in Seattle, anyways?"

Bella smiled as she answered. "Not Forks, that's what."

I laughed. Figures that the city girl would already be tired of small town life.

When I arrived at French, Alice crushed me in a hug so tight that I was surprised the small girl had so much strength. "You are _never_ to do something so- so _foolish_ ever again!"

I was taken aback by her harsh tone. Alice was usually all smiles, so I was rather unprepared for this reaction.

"I mean, who jumps in front of a moving car?" She continued to rave.

"I know, I know. You sound like my Mom."

Alice nodded in a self-satisfied way. "Well good. At least _someone_ has been trying to talk some sense into you."

"Oh, my brother really liked those cookies you sent, by the way" I said as I struggled through the review sheet we'd been given.

Just like that, Alice had regained her usual bubbly persona was back. "Oh, did he? That's a relief. I didn't try them myself so I was hoping they turned out alright, as I don't bake much you know-"

Alice's fretting over how _exactly_ the cookies had turned out carried us through most of first period, despite the fact that I assured her numerous times of their quality.

Calculus inched by at a miserably slow rate, as always. It took all of my willpower to sit through the difficult equations. Truth be told, I was terrible at calculus. I wasn't fond of mathematics in general, but this course seemed to be impossible.

In my old school, I had achieved all the math credits I needed to graduate, but here, in Forks, a math class was necessary for each year up until graduation. Unfortunately, since I had taken all the classes leading up to Calc that Forks high provided, my options were fairly limited. Within the first day of class, I knew that Calc would be a class I'd pass by the skin of my teeth.

So when the bell tolled, signifying the end of my least favorite subject, I was overjoyed. Somehow Calculus had become more hated by me than even French was.

In fact, I hated it so much that I was almost eager to sit through Mr. Jefferson's lecture.

 _Now that says something._

Well, I was actually more excited to see what my eyes were inexplicably drawn to upon entering the classroom. Jasper. He sat at his normal seat, his hand supporting his chin as he regarded the board lazily.

An involuntary breath escaped me as I took him in. His hair was a little more disheveled than usual, though it worked in his favor. In fact, I was sure that just about anything could work in his favor. He wore a grey jacket over a tight fitting blue shirt that made my mind wander just a bit before reigning it in.

His handsome features were fixed in a far off expression; before he suddenly perked up a bit, his eyes flicking over to where I now stood. His expression changed rather suddenly, to my surprise. His shoulders seemed to relax as he shot me a genuine smile with all of his perfectly straight and pearly teeth. And _dimples_. Of course Jasper Hale would have a set of adorable dimples.

 _You did_ ** _not_** _just call him adorable. Friends don't call their friends adorable. Especially their weirdly attractive male friends._

My heart seemed to stutter. Sure, I'd seen Jasper laugh and grin, but this smile nearly took my breath away. I enjoyed how it reached his eyes, their honey tone dancing with emotion.

For reasons unbeknownst to me, my chest felt lighter as I took him in, strangely. Almost relieved. I couldn't quite place the logic behind that emotion. I knew that he'd be there, he almost always was. So why had I felt such potent reassurance?

Clearing my throat, I made my way to my seat, hoping that I hadn't stared for too long.

 _Leave it to me to stand in front of the whole class ogling him._

I took my usual seat next to him, returning his nonverbal greeting with a tentative smile.

"Hello." He said simply, his velvet voice making my heart tremble. It was a little pathetic that two tiny syllables could affect me so.

"Hi," I blurted, more instinctually than consciously.

He seemed to find that humorous, a corner of his mouth twitching ever so slightly. "How are you feeling?"

I bobbed my head before responding. "Good, all better."

 _That was a lie._

His expression portrayed that he realized that. He quirked a single brow in a slightly challenging manner, humor dancing in his eyes. "You're a bad liar."

I narrowed my eyes. "I'm a perfectly good liar, thank you very much."

He leaned back in his chair as he regarded me. "So if you don't feel perfectly fine, which you don't, why are you back in school?" He took a moment before adding "Not that I'm not happy about it, of course."

 _He's happy I'm back?_

 _He has to say that. That's what people say when you come back to school after being gone for a long time. Literally everyone has said that to you today._

The constant mental battle that went on within my head every time I spoke to Jasper was infuriating. The boy confused me to no end, and I oftentimes felt like I had two separate people in my head that were always bickering over what he was thinking.

"Well," I started, pushing my internal monologue to the back of my head, "I couldn't stand another day at home. It's horribly boring. You know you can't do _anything_ with a concussion? No reading, no writing, no TV, no texting or calling. Nothing!"

He chuckled slightly. The sound was deep as it rumbled from his chest. "So you're going to make it worse so you're not bored?"

"That's the plan" I responded as I dug my history notebook from my bag.

Whatever Jasper was about to respond with next was cut short by Mr. Jefferson's drawling voice as he began the lesson.

After class, Jasper approached me as he normally did. He had frowned when I slung my back over my right shoulder, and all but wrestled it from my grasp.

I had insisted that I was fine to carry it myself, but he had countered my argument by saying that it was the 'gentlemanly thing to do' by carrying it himself.

Unfortunately, his height and superior strength worked in his favor as he simply held it above me until I agreed to him helping me.

 _Damn Southern morals._

On the way to the lunchroom, we engaged in casual conversation regarding just about whatever came to mind, though it was periodically interrupted by me trying to catch him by surprise and snatch my bag.

Much to my frustration, I remained unsuccessful. Only when we entered the lunchroom did he give it back to me, gingerly placing it onto my shoulder.

"Thank you," I said in a comically sour tone that made him laugh at my expense.

"Anytime, darlin' " He had responded with a nod of his head before he made his way to the corner of the lunchroom where his siblings awaited, regarding our interaction with expressions varying from interest to anger. Well, really only the blonde girl seemed angry.

The pet name did not go unnoticed by me as I narrowed my eyes at his retreating back, trying to ignore the heat overtaking my cheeks.

 _Who calls people that? Nobody, that's who._

Why did he have to be so… well I wasn't even sure of the proper term. southern gentlemanly? It was infuriating, only because of how my face so easily betrayed how flustered it made me.

As always, Jess did not let it go unnoticed. "He's _carrying your bag now?_ Come on, Ana, you have to admit that that's something."

I bristled slightly at her suggestion. "It's a common courtesy for people to help the recently disabled," I joked as I gestured to my sling. "Maybe you all should do the same."

Mike snorted. "Oh, you wish."

I laughed, setting my bag down between Angela and I. "It was worth a shot."

Eric joined us, halting the current topic of discussion as he sat beside Ben. "So, Ana, you coming?"

I quirked a brow in confusion.

"To La Push," he supplied, as if I were supposed to know what that meant.

"What's La Push?" I asked.

It was Angela who answered me. "It's a beach on the Quileute reservation. We're going this weekend, you should come."

"Well I wouldn't be able to swim or anything," I said, frowning as I remembred Dr. Cullens ' _no_ _submerging_ _in_ _water_ ' rule. It was a shame; I would've loved to see the reservation. We had passed by the sign upon entering Forks, and I had been stricken by curiosity. I had never been on a reservation before.

"You don't have to swim, I'm not going to." Bella assured before shuddering. "Too cold."

Jess nodded in agreement. "We're going to surf," she said, gesturing between her, Mike, Eric and Lauren. "But you can also hike and whale watch and stuff."

I perked up slightly upon hearing that I wouldn't be alone in not going into the water. "This weekend?" I asked rhetorically as I scanned my memory for any plans that might potentially interfere. "Sure, I'll come."

Eric whooped in victory. "Try not to swoon when you see my master surfing skills."

The snort that escaped Jess let me know that Eric's surfing skills were probably anything less than master.

With those plans set, I was quite excited for the weekend to come, eager to explore the reservation with my friends.

 **A/N: Let me know what you thought!**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Hello everyone! I hope you enjoy this new chapter. Leave a review to tell me what you think! : )**

 **Review from Guest (Chapter 10) : Hey! Thank you for showing interest in my story by reviewing! It honestly means the world to me to get such positive feedback : ) I'm glad you like switching over to Jasper's thoughts, I felt like it would give him a bit more personality. And as for Bella, it was very important for me to make her interesting, especially through that sarcasm we see in the books that we all know and love. I also felt like their friendship is important, especially while they're trying to figure out everything about the Cullens and Diana just thinks that Bella has gone crazy. I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

It turns out that beaches in Washington State were nothing like what I'd pictured. I should've realized that they'd be cold and wet, just like everything else in the area, but with the word 'beach' I had still pictured white sands and turquoise waves.

Even though it was sunnier than most days, the beach was still grey and freezing. The experience hadn't been all bad so far, though, as I had gotten to watch the awkward, one-sided rivalry between Bella and Jess over who would get to sit next to Mike from the back seat of his oversized suburban. 

Bella had glared at me in the rear view mirror as I laughed at her plight until well into the drive.

And now, as I watched the majority of the group struggling to zip up their wetsuits, I was slightly envious. I had always wanted to try surfing, so it figures that the one time the opportunity had presented itself, my right arm was imprisoned in a sling.

Thankfully, Angela's lack of interest in the activity and Bella's lack of general coordination gave me some company. Bella was quite the sight to see, with the winds coming from the frigid water making the air even colder than usual. She had layered numerous jackets and blankets, and currently had a thick wool hat pulled over her ears.

I accepted the cold in more stride than both her and Angela, who was huddled into Bella's side. I opted for a thinner jacket and a wool hat similar to Bella's to combat the icy winds, as well as a n Indian-patterned blanketed I'd plucked from Mike's trunk draped over my shoulders to protect my sling from the dampness in the air.

"You sure you're not going to try your luck at surfing?" I asked Bella, feeling a smirk tugging at my lips.

Bella let out a humorless puff of air. "What luck? You know I don't have any."

I laughed at her obvious response, leaning in to deliver my next jibe more quietly. "But maybe Mike could say you. You know, he did say that he's CPR certified, and I'm sure that he'd be happy to give you mouth to-"

Bella pulled a disgusted face, kicking me as I sat on the rock rail of Tyler's van, which had surprisingly been left mainly uninjured during the accident. Its navy paint job only marred by a sizeable dent in the passenger's side door.

I did not miss Bella's many suggestive looks at the dents that were aimed towards me _._

 _I suppose she thinks that this dent looked like a handprint, too?_

"That is _disgusting,"_ She began to say from her slightly higher perch of the back seat, pulling me out of my thoughts involving her theories regarding Edward Cullen.

Angela began to laugh along with me, surprising both Bella and I. "Poor Mike. I feel kinda bad," she started, her tone genuine despite her laughter. "He really doesn't see that you're not interested."

Bella groaned in frustration. "Even you can see that he's interested? It's that obvious?"

Angela nodded sympathetically. "Ben and I figured it out a while ago, but I think everyone's pretty much realized by now. And pretty much everyone except him and Jess can tell that you don't feel the same."

"Where is Ben, anyways?" I asked after counting heads and realizing he was missing.

Angela frowned. "Came down with the flu. He was so upset, too. He loves coming down to La Push."

"I can see why," I said, gesturing to the colorless and dreary landscape. "So much sun, crystal clear waters-"

Bella nodded glumly in agreement. "My Mom lives in Jacksonville," she lamented. " _Jacksonville._ In fact, _I_ could be in Jacksonville right now. With actual sun and clear water."

I nudged her knee with my un-injured shoulder playfully. "But who would wanna be in Jacksonville when you could be here, freezing your ass off with us?"

Jessica's overly bubbly voice interrupted our conversation. "Hey, Bella, you sure you don't want to come surf?"' She asked, shooting a glance over at Mike.

 _Ah, I see what's going on here._ Jessica wanted Mike to notice that she could surf and Bella wasn't able to. It was both childish and predictable, but it was a classic. I was sure that Jess didn't mean to actually be rude to Bella, but rather just show off.

Bella nodded. "I'm sure, Jess."

Mike's chubby face showed his obvious disappointment as he, Tyler and Eric gathered everything the group had brought for our day at the beach.

I carried the small cooler of lunch that Mrs. Webber had provided us in my hand as we all made our way down the rocky, winding path that led to La Push beach, making sure to keep an eye on the ever-clumsy Bella as she navigated the steep decline.

"Can't they make a staircase?" Bella puffed her breaths slightly uneven.

"And ruin the natural beauty?" Eric's voice chided from somewhere behind us.

Before long, we made it to the shoreline, much to Bella's relief. Mike, Tyler and Eric all sprinted to the shoreline, their race riddled with jibes and trash talk.

" _Boys,"_ Jessica muttered as she gingerly dropped the pile of towels she'd brought down from the car, hastening to catch up with the trio, her surf board tucked beneath her arm.

I laughed upon seeing how the boys recoiled upon reaching the water, screeching in reaction to the seemingly frigid waves.

"You sure you don't want to surf, Angela?" I asked, giving the girl a sideling glance. "You don't have to keep us company if you don't want to."

She smiled in response. "Oh, I'm sure. It's not really my thing. Besides," she said as she reached into the small tote bag that she'd brought along. "I brought my camera, and I was thinking we could go down to the tide pools. I'm planning on running an editorial on them for the school paper."

I perked up. "Ooh, I didn't know there were tide pools here. You in, Bells?"

Bella nodded, though the action was almost unnoticeable beneath her bundle of blankets. "Sure, I'll come."

Angela peered into the distance, towards the clearing atop the slope where the cars were parked. "Should we wait for the other group that's coming? You know, Lauren and the rest?"

Bella looked up into the sky, her nose wrinkling as she took in the grey clouds. "Nah, we'd better start walking before it rains. How far is it, anyways?"

Angela shrugged, her hand gesturing that the distance was only so-so. "It's a bit of a hike, but not too far."

The hike wasn't extremely strenuous, though Bella did manage to slip on multiple wet patches pf grass along the way.

From the rocky outcrops, we were able to see the shallow pools where tiny fish darted back and forth, as well as numerous starfish and crabs. Much to my amusement, Bella was avoiding one pool where we'd spotted an eel like the plague, especially as I jokingly tried to push her into it.

We spent the next forty minutes or so helping Angela find the best angles at which to take her pictures, as well as daring one another to reach in and grab the most outlandish-looking sea life we could find. That game only lasted so long once we reached a stalemate over who would be brave enough to go anywhere near the pool with the eel.

When we emerged from the tree line at the end of our trek, we saw a good amount of figures that had joined our previously small group. When we got closer, we found that not only Lauren had arrived with a posse of girls I could not quite recognize, but also a small group of copper skinned boys who seemed to linger at the edge of our group of friends.

"Who are they?" I asked, once we were close enough for me to realize I had never met the, before.

Angela scrutinized the group. "Looks like some Quileute boys. They probably just came to see if they knew any of us."

Bella spoke up for the first time. "Hey, I think I know that one," She said, her eyes squinting as they strained to make out the details of one of the group. "Jake!" She called, waving to one of the Quileute boys once her face showed some sort of recognition.

To my surprise, one of the boys came bounding over, a wide smile stretched across his face. His pearlescent teeth contrasted against his russet skin in a way that I might have described as handsome, had it not been for the certain roundness of his face that betrayed his youth.

"Bella!" He said excitedly. Almost _too_ excited, in fact. It only took me a few moments to gather that the boy had some sort of crush on Bella. It was sort of cute, really, the way his eyes shone as he looked at her.

Bella chuckled lightly. "Did Charlie tell you I was here?"

The boy shook his head, his smile never fading. "Nah, just a coincidence that you were here .My friends and I came down to go cliff diving." He seemed to hesitate before continuing. "Unless, of course, we were welcome to stay here?"

"Of course," Bella affirmed, nodding as the four of us made our way back to the group. "This is Angela and Ana, by the way." She said, gesturing to both of us.

The young boy let out another one of his bright smiles. "I'm Jacob, nice to meet you guys."

"Hello." Angela said, smiling shyly as she fiddled with the strap that secured her camera around her neck.

I grinned at him, letting out a small wave. "Cliff diving?"

 _Now that seems like something I might be interested in once I get this stupid sling off._

Jacob nodded, gesturing vaguely over to a grouping of cliffs a ways away from the beach. "We usually go off of the lower ones. You've got to have a death wish to dive all the way off of the top."

Bella must have seemed the excitement that clouded my eyes, as she met me with a firm look that explicitly said _'no.'_

At that point, we were joined back with the group and I was introduced to Jacob's friends, Quil and Embry. Both boys greeted me with smiles that were as equally warm as Jacob's. They seemed unused to much female company, I noticed, as their eyes seemed to dart back and forth over each of the females in attendance, as if not sure which to focus on. Jessica also introduced me to the gaggle of girls that Lauren had brought along with her, though their generic names were not even in my head for a full minute before I forgot most of them.

'Wow, our group got pretty big, "Angela noted with a chuckle.

Mike nodded, shooting a suspicious look over at how casually Jacob had seemed to chat with Bella. "See, Bella, it's a good thing he couldn't make it."

"He? Who's he?" I inquired, looking curiously between Mike and Bella. Jessica seemed equally as out of the loop as me, which was surprising.

"She invited Cullen," He said casually enough, though it was plain to see that he was rather bothered by the fact.

To my surprise, Quil made a face in Distaste while Embry simply laughed at the installment. Jessica, on the other hand, looked positively shaken by the news. Her eyes became bright, as they often did when she learned some gossip.

"Only to be nice," Bella added quickly, her eyes flicking back and forth over each person in the group anxiously. I fixed her with an accusatory glance, surprised that she hadn't told me. She simply smiled sheepishly in response, avoiding eye contact.

"None of the Cullens would ever be here," Embry said the humor still evident in his voice.

My brow furrowed at his cryptic statement, but to my surprise nobody in the group seemed to question it, rather opting to carry on with separate discussions in their own small groups.

I could see that my own bafflement was mirrored in Bella's face, who was studying Embry so intensely that it was almost like he was a puzzle that she couldn't quite solve.

Soon enough, the newly multiplied group had set up a volleyball net that one of Lauren's friends had brought and was currently involved in an intense match. Both Quil and Embry had become quite popular due to their skill at the sport. I watched the group as I chewed glumly on my lunch, cursing the stupid sling on my left arm now more than ever.

Jacob hadn't joined either team, but was rather invested in a hushed conversation with Bella atop one of the drier chunks of driftwood. I had to do a double take upon noticing the close proximity at which they sat, as well as the way she seemed to gaze at him from beneath her lashes or casually brush against him.

 _Is Bella Swan…flirting?_

This was surely a sign of the apocalypse. I didn't even know that Bella _could_ flirt. And besides, didn't she have a thing for Edward?

The seemingly romantically charged interaction made me sort of uncomfortable, especially when I remembered the child-like roundness about Jacob. I was even more perturbed once he and Bella departed from the group and walked along the shoreline, their closeness remaining.

I shuddered. I didn't even _want_ to know where they were going.

"What's up with Bella and Jake? Angela asked, taking a seat next to me on the towel I'd set up over one of the large rocks where we'd set up camp.

"I was wondering the same thing," I said as my eyes strained to follow them through the darkening sky and thick fog that was beginning to settle along the water.

Angela simply shrugged, opening up a worn paperback and stretching out beside me. At that moment I was quite at ease with her silent company, as I closed my eyes and listened to the soft rumble of the waves, breathing in the gently salty breeze of the ocean.

My temporary peace was interrupted soon after by Eric, who called out to me from across the area we'd set up in. "Hey, Ana! You ever seen a driftwood fire?"

I cracked open an eye in interest. "Well I've seen a regular campfire. Isn't that the same thing?"

He grinned, shaking his hand as he waved me over to a pile of driftwood by his feet. My curiosity got the better of me as I climbed down from my perch, tiptoeing through the pebbly sand that irritated the sensitive soles of my feet.

I settled my hands upon my hips when I reached him, looking doubtfully at the pile. "Wow, Eric. This sure is a nice pile of wood. I'm glad you showed me," I said, my tone dripping with sarcasm.

The boy rolled his eyes at my sass as he knelt down, igniting the gathering of timber. It maintained the appearance of a normal fire for a while, before the flames took on an abnormally blue tinge.

"Its…blue?" I asked, astonished, sitting down to admire them more closely.

He nodded, sitting down as well. "It's from all the salt. Cool, huh?"

I nodded, my attention fully on the colorful flames for the next few minutes as I enjoyed the warmth that spread through my body. Eric's voice pulled me from my trance a while later.

"So, Ana, I've been meaning to ask you something."

 _Uh oh._

As I looked beside me, I realize that he had somehow gotten closer, so silently that I hadn't even noticed. I looked around frantically, looking for any way to escape what would surely become an awkward conversation.

I realized then that there was nobody nearby, In fact, everyone was so spread apart from us that it was suspicious. They all seemed to be making small talk, a few shooting glances over their shoulders to Eric and I.

 _Shit. I walked right into a trap without even realizing it._

"Will you go to the spring fling with me?" His voice was sincere, hopeful. Oh, I wasn't sure I could do it. But I certainly didn't want to go to any sort of dance with him.

I avoided eye contact, my gaze flicking this way and that while I looked for any way to escape my plight. Then I saw them, Bella and Jacob slowly making their way back from their walk and towards the fire where Eric and I now sat.

"I- I can't" I started nervously, hoping that my voice would be loud enough to carry over to Bella. "I'll be in Seattle with Bella that day." I hoped that my voice was filled with just enough faux-regret that it was believable.

"Oh," Eric said, his tone disappointed as he looked into the fire. "What's in Seattle, anyways?" he asked glumly.

Finally, Bella was close enough to join the conversation. "Uh, Bella! Tell Eric why we're going to Seattle. You made the plans, after all." I hoped that the desperate look I was giving her would betray the truth behind the situation I'd caught myself in, as well as the fact that I needed her help with the tiny white lie.

Bella seemed taken aback by the question, but recovered quickly enough. "We're, um, going to see a play," She responded lamely as she fiddled with a portion of hair."

"You can't see a play another weekend?" Eric asked, doubtfully.

"Non-refundable tickets. We bought them before we knew about the dance."

Eric nodded, appeased by our cover-up. The only person that seemed the wiser to our lie was Jacob, who was glancing knowingly between Bella and I, his eyes dancing with amusement.

The rest of the night passed by quickly enough, filled with poor retellings of scary stories and roasted marshmallows. We didn't even pile back into the cars until late in the night, and I was so thoroughly worn out that I'd almost fallen asleep on Bella, who had managed to snag a spot in the back seat and avoid another awkward situation between Jess and Mike.

It wasn't until Bella was halfway through driving me home that a conversation began. I didn't mind, at first, as it was impossible to get any sleep with the roaring of the truck's engine anyways.

"So, do you often enjoy long walks along the beach with fourteen year olds?" I asked teasingly.

Bella bristled at my joke, taking her eyes off the road for a moment to give me a disapproving look. "He's fifteen. And it wasn't like that, anyways."

I snorted doubtfully. "You were _so_ flirting."

Bella seemed uncomfortable, fidgeting slightly before answering. "Well, yeah. But only to get some information."

I wrinkled my nose. "That sounds sketchy"

Bella rolled her eyes. "It's about the Cullens." She seemed to rethink her words before adding. "Or, at least someone like them."

I groaned, pressing my forehead against the cool window. "Oh, not this again."

Bella huffed in frustration. " _The cold ones!"_ she exclaimed, as if that were supposed to make any sense.

"The whats?"

"The cold ones. They were some kind of weird enemy clan of the Quileute's. As beautiful as angels, Jacob said. And inhumanly strong and fast."

I furrowed my brows. "So? That's just some fairytale. There are plenty of people who are inhumanly beautiful and strong." I wracked my brain for an example. "Like Chris Hemsworth."

Bella shook her head firmly. 'No, Ana. They were different. He said they hunted animals with their bare hands and couldn't go into the sun. You know who I've never seen in the sun? The Cullens. Any of them. Jess told me that they're never in school on sunny days. Isn't that weird?"

"No," I answered carefully. "Maybe they're just really active people and like to go out when it's sunny. Maybe you should, too. It's good for your mental health and I think you could really use some help in that department lately." I finished, jokingly.

"I'm serious," Bella said resolutely as she pulled into my drive way, shifting to face me once the truck was parked.

"How else would Edward cross the parking lot so fast? And then push away a van?"

When I opened my mouth to object that statement, Bella cut me off. "And you _know_ he did. Even Dr. Cullen said that you shouldn't be alive. There had to be some sort of… _miracle_ like this to keep you alive."

"Maybe it was just luck," I said quietly, though the excuse seemed insufficient to even my own ears.

Bella seemed to become more frenzied in her reasoning when I couldn't quite refute what she was saying. "And it explains the way they look, too. Nobody is that… _perfect_."

She did have a point, there. Each person in the family was somehow more pleasing to look at than the last. There surely was no way that someone like Jasper could exist naturally, with his deep, husky laugh and halo of blond locks.

 _This isn't about how pretty you think Jasper Hale is._ I reminded myself

My porch light turning on interrupted our conversation, which seemed to panic Bella slightly. "Ana, just think about it. Please? I'll tell you anything else I find out on Monday."

I huffed as I climbed out of her truck. "Fine, I'll think about it. But for future reference, I would really enjoy it if you stopped giving me these monuments theories to ponder over all weekend."

Bella smiled, relieved. "Thank you. You'll see that I'm onto something, I know it."

I shook my head as I climbed the stairs that led up to my front door. Maybe Bella's company was negatively affecting my reasoning skills, but I had a weird feeling about what she'd told me. A strange twist in my gut. A premonition didn't seem like quite the right word. I was just sort of uneasy, this new information that I couldn't quite logically debunk unsettled me slightly. After all, how _had_ I survived the crash? Was it so wrong to believe that Bella may not have actually hallucinated Edward Cullen at the scene of the wreck?

I was almost certain I was going crazy when I reached a conclusion late that night. Maybe Bella wasn't totally wrong. I didn't quite believe that the Cullens were some sort of divine beings, but was it so outlandish to say that they were simply unnatural?

Yes, I was quite sure that there was just something… _off_ about the family.

 **A/N: Don't forget to review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Hello everyone! I hope you enjoy this chapter; things are certainly speeding up a bit. Thank you to all my readers (and especially reviewers!) who make writing this so fun. Let me know what you think: )**

 **Review from Zolly (guest)-chapter 11: Oh my God. I literally cannot thank you enough for your review! It was so sweet and encouraging! The fact that it was so long and descriptive had me smiling in public like an idiot. I'm so glad you like Diana and the style in which I write Stephanie Meyer's characters. It is such a relief to know that people actually think Diana is funny! I would literally kill for a long review so feel free to leave more hahaha.**

 **Review from sailorjules (Chapter 11): Shhh don't spoil his reaction to the La Push trip haha. Things are speeding up so I hope we get to the juicy bits soon too! Thank you for reviewing!**

 **Review from liz-04(chapter 11): Thank you so much! Your wish may be granted sooner than you think ; ) Thanks for the feedback!**

 **Review from GeeImKate (Chapter 11): I'm glad you liked the latest chapter! I agree, poor Eric. But poor Diana for having to turn him down as well! This chapter should take us a bit further down the road of her finding out the truth, so we'll see! Thanks for the review!**

I stood there, my neck craned as I tried to see the very tops of the spindly pines which surrounded me. I wasn't quite sure where this small clearing was, or how I got there. I knew I probably should've been a bit concerned with this fact, but strangely, I wasn't.

Looking down at my bare feet, which were quite comfortable atop a lush green moss, I knew I should probably be cold as well. Adorned with nothing but a thin white shift, that would certainly be expected. The goosebumps that were steadily multiplying on my skin as well as the slivery breaths of air that manifested in the chilly air made me question why exactly I wasn't.

That wasn't important, though. No, I wasn't quite concerned with anything in particular. I was mostly content but for one tiny detail. I was missing something, but what? I couldn't quite place the itching urge to search the forest high and low for this mystery necessity.

I took a few steps forward, my feet sinking into the moss which expelled cold moisture. It should have been an unpleasant feeling, but I didn't mind. Entering the tree line, I began to search more thoroughly.

The bark of each tree was rough against my palm as I circled each one, as if something were hiding from me on the other side. I squinted up at the branches, straining to make out any details I could. I certainly wasn't sure what I was looking for, but I knew it was a tricky little thing.

I closed my eyes, my body still as I listened to the sounds surrounding me. The slight whistle of the wind, causing the branches highest up on the evergreens to creak. The gentle rainfall from which I was mainly shielded dancing upon the canopy of leaves above, though it had dampened my thick mass of curls slightly.

There it was. A slight rustle. Quiet, nondescript, but significant in some way. I felt a satisfied smile overtake my face as I bounded in the direction of the noise, gingerly avoiding anything blocking my path. I heard the rustling continue, farther and farther away each time, though I was making progress. Suddenly, it all stopped.

I followed in suit, stopping as well. Closing my eyes, I attempted to listen once more, though my own heartbeat was deafening in my ears. I was awarded with nothing but the sounds of nature until a solid _thump_ resounded from behind me, a pair of strong arms holding me firmly against their owner's body.

A small, rational part of my brain knew I should be afraid. Knew that I should scream, thrash and run away. But I didn't. I wasn't the least bit frightened. Rather, I was relieved, a small laugh bubbling from my chest as I ran a hand over the strong pair of forearms that held me, leaning back into the embrace. I noticed that they were littered with innumerable small scars, though it seemed like I knew them. Each of them, intimately. It was almost as if I'd lain in them for hours upon end, counting each one.

I craned my neck, looking into the brilliant ochre eyes of the man. _Jasper._

I knew that I should have been surprised to see my classmate, his eyes brimming with soft adoration, a small smile tugging on his lips. That small, rational part of my mind was bewildered at his closeness, the way he held me so comfortably.

But classmate didn't seem to be the right word for him. No, he was more than that. I felt as though there was a rope secured around me, tethering me to him, like we transcended the connection of acquaintances, friendship even. He was the center of my universe, he was the sun, and I a simple planet hopelessly drawn to his pull.

He did look like the sun in that moment. His golden tresses and pale skin contrasted against the dreary muted tones of our surroundings in a way that made my heart flutter in my chest.

He dipped his head slightly, brushing his cool, sculpted lips against the corner of my mouth chastely. My heart sped up, thumping frantically in my chest at his closeness. He let out a small chuckle, moving his lips to my jaw.

They did not move in the sloppy, vulgar way, which I knew was common, but rather gently, methodically and tantalizingly slow.

"You, my dear, are quite foolish." He said, his voice clear despite the fact that his lips were ghosting over my skin. I enjoyed the way that I felt his grin against the sensitive skin of my neck. "It's not wise to go running into the forest in search of the things that go bump in the night."

That small, rational part of my mind perked up, despite the fact that I didn't seem particular perturbed at the statement.

 _Was I supposed to know what that meant?_

Seemingly of my body's own accord, I answered nonchalantly. "Some might call it _attachment"_

Hips lips hovered over the sensitive dip of my neck. "No, Diana. It really is foolish to look for me while I'm hungry."

For reasons I was not sure of, that statement shot a bolt of paralyzing, uninhibited fear through me. His embrace changed then. The way he held me was not endearing, nor was the way that it made my heart beat faster pleasant. He held me tightly, almost painfully so.

I gasped sharply, but before I could scream the most intense pain I'd ever felt consumed my entire body. It started at my neck, where his mouth was now tightly clamped. It was as if a hot knife had been drawn across my throat, the fire swimming through my veins and crippling my body.

I was unable to even scream as I slumped against him, a pathetic whimper escaping from my lips. The pain was searing, as if I was being burned alive from the inside out. I felt powerless, losing any control of my body and slumping against him as I heard my bones snapping with the sheer force that he held me with.

Suddenly, I was looking upon the scene separate from my body. My blood fell freely from his lips, staining the front of his once crisply white shirt. Jasper let me fall after tenderly trailing a finger down my cheekbone, leaving my awkwardly bent form crumpled on the ground, my eyes frighteningly lifeless as they stared into the distance.

I awoke with a strangled gasp, shooting upright. My hands flew to my neck, almost sure that they'd be met with the gaping wound I had just seen.

I let out a sigh of relief, slumping against my headboard when my though was met with my perfectly intact skin.

 _It was only a dream._

I supposed that _nightmare_ was a more accurate term for what I'd just seen. A glance at the alarm clock that illuminated my dark room showed that it was the early morning. I sighed, running a hand over my clammy forehead. I couldn't imagine why I'd had a dream like that. Jasper Hale had never been anything but kind to me. A perfect gentleman, in fact, whose company I enjoyed very much.

 _Bella's theories must be getting to me._

I tried my best to breath slowly and methodically in an attempt to slow my frantic heartbeat. It had all seemed so vivid; I could almost still feel my wet hair sticking to the back of my neck, the moss beneath my feet and the strong arms holding me.

The dream wasn't all bad, I supposed. In fact, at the beginning it had been quite pleasant. My heart sped up in an entirely different way as I remembered the gentleness with which Jasper had originally embraced me.

But what had gone wrong? The drastic switch from contentment to terror had almost given me whiplash. I wished that I could shake the image of my eyes dully fixed upon the distance, my face frozen with fear, as well as the image of Jasper drenched in blood, a sadistic grin on his face.

I sat up, holding my face in my hands, my fingers knotted through my hair as I steadied my breathing. Pudge perked up, stretching in a distinctly feline manner before butting his head against my knee.

As I scratched behind his tawny ears, I thought of what Bella had told me with a different perspective. Was the idea of the Cullens being different in some way really that hard to believe? Who's to say that there might be things that I'm simply not aware of in this world?

 _People do have different realities. After all, I'm sort of religious, but some people staunchly disagree with the idea of any sort of higher power. What's the difference between that and believing in something a bit less…orthodox?_

"Am I going crazy?" I asked the plump cat, sighing as I settled back amongst the blankets.

His emerald eyes offered no answer, but rather just stared at me lazily, leaving me to ponder my possibly deteriorating mental state by myself.

Sleep mainly evaded me that night, and I spent the better portion of my time tossing and turning with thoughts of the strange dream weighing heavily on my mind.

The next morning, I had already made up my mind that I'd take Bella more seriously. Though it would be more rational to accept the logical answer that hearing the frightening Quileute legends through Bella had driven my imagination to run wild, I could not shake the itching feeling that the dream was too vivid and the feeling in my gut too strong to pass off as anything so inconsequential.

I had risen quite early, fed up with my inability to drift asleep after the nightmare. Rather, I opted to go downstairs and perch atop the couch, nursing a cup of tea as I watched the sun rise.

Eventually, steady footfalls descending the stairs alerted me of my Mother's presence.

My appearance in the living room must have been quite shaking, as she gasped, a hand flying to her chest as she saw me.

"God! What are you doing up so early, Ana?"

I chuckled slightly. I had always been amused by how easily my Mother was frightened. "Couldn't sleep" I responded, my voice muffled against the brim of my mug.

She hummed, scrutinizing me. "Looks like it. Were you on that phone all night again?"

I groaned in exasperation. "No, Mom. Just a dream."

Her eyes softened in understanding. It had once been a common occurrence that sleep often escaped me. For months after the accident, I often awoke inconsolable, having had nightmares about the small snippets that I remembered from the traumatic event.

Where that hadn't been the topic of my nightmares this particular night, I didn't object her assumption. It would be much easier to have her think that I was having those dreams again than to explain the odd visions of my handsome classmate murdering me in cold blood.

She took a seat next to me, brushing my curls onto one shoulder. "You haven't had one of those in a while."

I nodded, avoiding making too much eye contact and running the risk of her detecting my partial, unspoken dishonesty. She let out a shaky breath.

"You look…just so much like her sometimes. It's scary, really." The slight tremor in my Mother's voice tugged at my heart strings. Losing my sister had been a massive blow to my parents, and there were times when I knew that my Mom still struggled to get up each day and continue without Virginia.

I smiled a bit, though I knew that it didn't meet my eyes. "She'd be happy for us, Mom. This move is good for us. You know that, and we both know that Gina would know that, too."

She blinked back the slight moisture that had overtaken her eyes, threatening to brim over as she placed a hand over mine, nodding slightly. "You're right."

She got up and set to making her own cup of tea in a travel mug before speaking again, her voice still hoarse with emotion. "I'm just about to head off to work. I figure you'd rather try to get some rest before you head over to Bella's later than come in with me?"

I perked up slightly, unraveling my legs from their previously crisscrossed position. "I don't think I'd be able to get much sleep anyways. I'll come."

A distraction would be more welcome than anything else. At that moment, I was eager to fill my head with anything other than speculations about my nightmare. Besides, I had been planning on meeting Bella later on the day to work on a Biology project and could use the trip to the Library to pick up some reference materials.

Despite the fact that we weren't in the same class, we had been allowed to collaborate with students in other periods. When this particular project had been assigned, Bella was even more fed-up with Edward Cullen than usual and had pleaded with me to be her partner so she wouldn't need to interact with him 'any more than was socially necessary.'

It was quite funny, really, watching Bella deny her obvious feelings for the boy. 

Rather than getting dressed in more presentable clothes, I went for the outfit that clearly portrayed my exhaustion; yoga pants and an old, worn sweatshirt that I would usually never be caught dead in outside of bed. Upon looking into the mirror, I learned that my Mom had told the truth about my downtrodden appearance, as I was sporting dark crescents beneath my eyes.

The ride to Forks public library was uneventful and mostly filled with small talk revolving around how we were each settling into the small town.

When my Mom departed to report to her position behind the help desk, I was left to my own devices. Bella and I's project was about the ethical complications behind cloning, so I soon found myself picking through dusty volumes in the science section.

Turning a corner on my way to another relevant section, something caught my eye. A volume that's large, bolded title stood out to me. _An Extensive Expository To All Things Occult._

I quirked a brow at the strange word choice that the title boasted, hesitating a moment before pulling it from its low spot on the shelf. If I knew anything about my Mother, it was that she would be less than enthused about me flipping through the pages of anything with the word _'occult'_ in the title. That was simply the kind of superstitious, protective person she was.

And though I denied it, I knew exactly why I was so interested in the novel. I was yearning for any sort of clue that would explain the strange dream from the night before. Against my better judgement, I rationalized the desire.

 _It couldn't be so bad to just look through, could it? For curiosity's_ sake?

With that thought in mind, I knelt down and grabbed a few of the nearby volumes with similar titles before making my way over to one of the many uninhabited tables in the musty room.

I had no idea how much time had passed while I was so absorbed in the novels. Many of them had been inconclusive, filled with strange herb mixtures and scary stories that filled me with skepticism. One book, however, did catch my eye.

On one of the many pages describing different sorts of Demonic entities, there was a small subtext that made my breath catch in my throat.

There, hidden at the very bottom of the page were two tiny little words that sent a shiver down my spine.

 _Cold ones._

Had that not been the very same cryptic title that Bella had used to describe the creatures from one of the Quileute legends?

I quickly flipped to the page number that sat beside the small subtext. The paragraph was measly, but it was something. As my eyes frantically scanned the page, I was left dumbfounded by some of the word choice. _Beautiful. Inhuman. Demonic. Unfeeling. Predator. Cruel. Strong. Blood-thirsty…_

The words caused unsavory images to invade my mind. Bella's description of Edward's inhuman strength while he pushed away Tyler Crowley's van, the flawless complexion of each of the Cullens, as well as the bloodshed from my nightmare the previous night.

My heart was in my throat as I read on. At the bottom of the small page was yet another subtext.

 _For further reference, see Quileute Legends: A definitive guide to the legends of the Quileute people._

I shut the book gingerly, gathering it and a few other volumes on the topic and placing them amongst the pile of books I'd decided to check out for the Bio project.

I placed the assortment of books onto the check-out desk, the one farthest away from where my Mom was stationed. Upon reaching the books that I'd intentionally hidden amongst the less unorthodox one, the middle aged librarian fixed me with a questioning, almost accusatory glare from behind her crescent shaped glasses.

I cleared my throat nervously. "Theology project."

 _That's an awful excuse,_ I thought to myself. _Forks high school is way too small to have any sort of theology classes._

Though she didn't seem convinced, the woman simply turned up her hawk like nose and scanned the novels without comment.

I was grateful for her discreetness, as well as the fact that my Mother didn't question the sizeable bulge of my backpack that the books caused on the drive to Bella's house.

Upon arriving to the small white house, I bid my Mom goodbye before hurrying up the front steps, eager to escape the drizzle that had begun en route.

The house was plain enough from the outside, with the only real indicators of it being the Swan residence the police cruiser and aged Chevrolet truck parked outside. When I knocked on the mahogany hued front door, I was met not by the teenaged girl that I expected, but rather the taller, more imposing figure of Chief Swan.

Charlie Swan resembled Bella slightly if one was really looking for similarities. He had closely cropped dark hair that complimented his rather stern face well, as well as a thick mustache that hovered just above his upper lip. His eyes were the feature that mainly linked him to my friend, being that they were the same warm chocolate color.

I noticed that he was still in uniform as I fumbled for a greeting.

"Oh, hello Mr. Swan," I said as I extended a hand somewhat awkwardly. "I'm Diana Lansing, Bella's friend from school. We were going to work on a biology project together today."

Realization lit up the man's face as he shook my hand, his grip firm before opening up the door wider, ushering me in.

"Bella's just upstairs," He said, shoving his hands into his pockets. "You can head up if you'd like."

I nodded, thanking him before moving towards the staircase when the strange furrow to his brow made me pause. The wrinkles on his forehead were more pronounced in thought, as if he were considering speaking once more.

"I just wanted to thank you," he blurted, making me frown in confusion momentarily. He cleared his throat in discomfort before continuing. "You're the one who pushed Bells out of the way of that car, right? Thank you for that. I don't know what I would have done if she'd- if things had ended differently."

I felt my face flush at his praise. "Of course, it was an adrenaline rush sort of thing," I said lamely.

Just then, Bella appeared at the top of the stairs, regarding our interaction with a quirked brow. "Oh, hey Ana. Come on up."

Both Charlie and I seemed relieved by her interruption, eager for any way to escape the awkward exchange. He aimed one last nod at me before dipping into a separate corridor.

"You look awful," Bella said as she ushered me into her bedroom.

"Wow, thanks," I replied sarcastically as I looked around the heavily personalized space.

Bella's room was distinctly _Bella_ , despite the indications that the room had scarcely changed since her early childhood. The walls were painted a cheerful green that complimented the oaky tones of her furniture. Upon the walls were numerous posters and frames, as well as a few new-looking photos pinned up haphazardly.

I noticed that one of the smiling faces in a picture as my own, the shot depicting Bella and I laughing as we leaned against her truck. I recognized it as one of the pictures that Angela had snapped with the camera that was almost always slung around her neck.

"What were you and my Dad talking about?" Bella asked curiously.

"Just awkward introductions," I said, not wanting to go into detail and risk Bella thanking me too many times again.

She looked as if she wanted to say more, but rather gaped as I emptied the contents of my bag, dozens of books splaying across her purple bed sheets.

"Have you decided to take up witchcraft?" She asked, a brow furrowed as she eyed a nearby copy with a pentagram embossed on the cover warily.

I rolled my eyes, patting the spot next to me and flipping to a dog eared page in the book. Bella peered over my shoulder as I placed a finger just beneath the words that had captured my attention earlier. "Cold ones," I said simply, waiting for her reaction.

Bella gasped, wrenching the book from my hands and holding it up to her face, her eyes scanning the page before looking at me incredulously. "Where'd you find this?"

"The library," I said, scooting closer to her and pointing out a few words used to describe the fabled ' _cold ones'._

"This is amazing," She said as she re-read the paragraph. "So you're finally taking me seriously?"

I nodded hesitantly. "You've finally won me over. Against my better judgement, that is."

Bella danced in her seat gleefully, her chestnut locks bouncing. _"Finally!_ "

I piled a few of the other books into her lap. "All of these mention the cold ones, but they don't have as much about them."

Bella nodded, before regarding me with confusion. "What made you change your mind? About me being crazy?"

I paled slightly at the memory of the previous night. "I had a dream," I said hesitantly. "Well more like a nightmare, I suppose. About Jasper Hale."

Bella waggled her brows suggestively, her lips curled into a grin.

"Not like _that_ ," I said, smacking her arm. "He...murdered me."

Bella looked surprised as her face took on a more serious expression. My fingers grazed the side of my neck as I thought about the nightmare.

"It was terrifying, he was so strong. There was blood everywhere," I murmured, trailing off before getting a hold over myself. "Then I found these books, and it all seemed so odd."

Bella nodded gravely, studying the page once again. I had intentionally left out any details regarding the beginning of the dream, which certainly would've caused Bella to tease me incessantly.

"Was this book there?" she asked, gesturing to the cited book that discussed the cold ones.

I shook my head. "I looked everywhere"

She frowned, reading the title again. "We'll just have to order it. You have a library account, right? They can mail it."

I paled, shaking my head. "If my mom sees that I'm ordering all these supernatural books she'll freak. She hates that kind of stuff."

It was true. Growing up, my siblings and I had been banned from watching any sort of horror television shows or movies.

Bella frowned, pulling her laptop across the bed and typing in the book title. Her eyes lit up when the search engine found a match.

"There's a bookshop in Port Angeles called… _Thunderbird and Whale_." She said, looking over at me for some sort of affirmation.

"Well, I guess that we'll finally have an excuse to go check out Port Angeles, then."

 **A/N: We've finally hit 40k! And Diana is** _ **finally**_ **ready to start figuring the Cullens out! Leave a review and tell me what you think now that things are speeding up!**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Let me know what you guys think of the story so far!**

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"This is _hopeless"_ I said, my voice being partially drowned out by the thick raindrops that bounced off of the roof of the aged Chevy.

Bella shot me a disapproving look from the driver's seat. "And here I thought that I was the pessimistic one."

I rolled my eyes, leaning back against the passenger's side door and facing her as I skimmed through one of the library books. "Well you haven't had to read this garbage. There's nothing useful at all!"

Bella chuckled as she pulled into the school parking lot. "Well it's just too bad that the demand for literature on Quileute demons is so low."

I closed the book and returned it to its place in my backpack. "Bella," I began thoughtfully. "Are you…afraid of them? The Cullens, I mean. If any of this is true."

She sighed as she tugged on the gear shift, parking the truck. "I-I don't know." She turned in her seat to face me, her expression troubled. "What did you find in your share of the books last night?"

We had each taken a number of the books I'd found, sorting through them on until the early morning hours. For a time, we'd stayed on the phone murmuring our findings, but that had ended rather quickly when my Mother came dangerously close to finding out about our stash of bools t when she'd heard our hushed conversation through the thin walls.

"The same as the others," I said quietly. "Undead, immortal…"

"Bloodthirsty," she finished, her voice tremoring slightly.

I nodded gravely. "I feel like I should be afraid. And maybe I am, just a little, but not in the way I should be."

She nodded, wringing her hands. "What if we're just crazy?"

I laughed, though I was certain she didn't mean for the statement to be humorous. "That's a big possibility."

She hummed slightly, her gaze distant as she seemingly looked at nothing in particular through the windshield, which had now become peppered with water droplets after the wipers had ceased to move.

"I suppose we have to act clueless. Like we don't even have the slightest suspicion."

I nodded in agreement. "That's probably for the best. Especially if it's nothing at all."

I fidgeted slightly in my seat, casting a look in her direction before speaking again.

"Sometimes I feel like there are too many coincidences, but then I can't imagine any of it actually being true. Like Alice. She's just as flawless as the legends say, and she has the same strange eyes, but in my wildest dreams I could never imagine her… _killing_ anyone."

I uttered the word 'killing' ever so quietly, the term seeming foreign on my tongue. It was almost as if I were afraid to say it, afraid to suggest that any of the Cullens could be actual killers in reality and not just in Bella and I's imaginations.

She sighed, nodding. "I almost wished that we'd never found out about any of…all this. Things could be so much _simpler."_

I decided to change to conversation to a lighter topic as I slid out of the truck. "Are you ready to present in bio?"

Bella groaned as she shoved her bag onto her shoulder. "We're so failing. And I don't think that Mr. Banner will understand if we told him that we were busy with Quileute legends."

Sure enough, Bella and I's biology project was terrible. I would have been surprised at any other outcome, since we had spent the entirety of our weekend at La Push and with our noses stuck in books about the supernatural.

I had gone into Bella's class period to present, so I had the privilege of watching Edward Cullen chuckle at our improvised project. I pulled a sour face in his direction behind Mr. Banner's back, even though I'd never spoken to the boy before, which thoroughly bewildered him.

I ended up going on long winded tangents about largely unrelated subjects during the time, while Bella occasionally added in any of the vague facts that she'd scrawled onto her palm.

Our project being less than satisfactory was almost sacrilegious to Bella, who was probably one of the most conscientious students I'd ever met. I was used to throwing projects together last second, and usually got a satisfactory enough grade. This time, however, I was almost sure that we'd fail.

It had been so well worth it, however, to see Bella's strange mixture of fluster-ment and annoyance at Edward's obvious amusement that I hardly cared about the grade that was inevitably coming our way.

* * *

Afterwards, it was the time of day where I'd make my way to fourth period history class. Being that I'd left early from Mr. Banner's class after presenting, I was the first one present in Mr. Jefferson's classroom.

It was rather strange to be alone in the room with the dumpy man for upwards of five minutes. Those minutes mainly consisted of me trying my very hardest to look very interested in various facets of the barren room, therefore avoiding any sort of awkward interaction.

It was a relief when my classmates slowly started to file in one by one, filling the unnervingly quiet room with casual chatter. Soon enough, a certain blond head of hair caught my attention as it dipped slightly as Jasper crossed the threshold of the classroom.

Despite the warm, closed-lipped smile he gave me, I could not quite help the slight bolt of fear that shot through me as I remembered the nightmare I'd had over the weekend, the way Jasper's smile had been twisted in a malicious way before tearing my throat opened.

My fingers subconsciously flashed to my neck at the memory, my eyes flickering away from his.

"How are you today, Diana?" He asked as he slid into his seat next to mine, his brow slightly furrowed in some sort of concentration.

I cleared my throat before responding. "Hello, Jasper. I'm good" I lied.

His eyes searched mine with a strange intensity for a moment, one that made my heart quicken. I desperately wanted to tear my gaze from his, but I was almost unable to. Sometimes, I hated how it seemed that Jasper could see through me so easily.

His lips turned down ever so slightly as he settled into his chair. "I've already told you that you're horrendous at lying, you know."

I let out a frustrated breath as I faced forwards.

 _Is he just the most perceptive person in the universe, or some sort of mind reader?_

"You know, it would be the _gentlemanly_ thing to not accuse me of lying every-"

Jasper silenced me with a finger to his lips, a smug sort of humor evident in his eyes, before nodding to the front of the classroom where Mr. Jefferson had just begun speaking.

My jaw tensed slightly. _I'm going with some sort of psychic-mind reader._

After class, Jasper joined me on the walk to the cafeteria as per usual, bumping my uninjured shoulder with his, his amusement intact. "You're not cross with me now, are you?"

I arched a brow at his unusual word choice. "Well maybe I am," I responded, jutting my chin out slightly, despite the fact that I was not 'cross' at all.

He scoffed slightly "Well how may I ever make that up to you?" he said, his tone sarcastic.

"We'll see what you can come up with."

"You know, you're a real-"He started before stopping suddenly.

I pursed my lips, following his gaze to one of the large glass windows that lined the narrow hall.

He bowed his head, extending his hand in a faux-diplomatic manner. "Care for another walk?"

I smirked slightly, looking at him in entertainment before gently laying my hand in his palm.

I froze, my lips parting slightly as that same bolt of fear ran through me once again. His touch was like ice, causing my eyes to go wide in disbelief.

Jasper seemed to freeze as well, his gaze flicking to our unified hands as an emotion that I could not quite place flashed in his eyes. I gulped, a million thoughts flying through my head.

 _Could it just be a coincidence? Maybe he just has really cold hands._

As I tried to convince myself of this, I could only think of the numerous times I'd read about the frigid temperature of the fabled cold ones' skin, as well as the extreme chill that I'd vividly felt in my dream when his hands caressed my skin.

 _Was this just some elaborate scheme to get me alone, away from the safety of the crowd? But if Jasper had really meant to harm me, why would he not have gotten it over with the first time we were alone? Nobody would have witnessed anything in the seclusion on that snowy day._

But maybe I was simply overthinking it all. Cold hands did not necessarily mean that Jasper was demonic. After all, how could he be? The boy had never been anything but kind to me, really. The mere implication that Jasper could be wicked at all did not sit well with me.

And anyways, hadn't Bella and I decided that it was best to go about business as usual?

I covered up my surprise with the best smile I could manage. He hesitated, but seemed appeased before shouldering one of the large doors opened.

 _Well, I hope that Bella will be able to connect the clues and find my body if this goes wrong._

"Was your weekend enjoyable?" He asked, pulling me from my internal monologue.

I had an idea then. A slightly awful and wicked idea.

"Yes, actually. I went down to La push. Ever been?" I asked, watching him closely for any reaction.

And I did get a reaction, at least slightly. He stiffened, his jaw becoming somehow even slightly sharper and more tense than usual. "Briefly. I'd suggest other beaches, if I were you."

I was tempted to push him, to dig for even the slightest indication of why La Push beach was less than satisfactory, but the slight edge to his tone caused me to refrain. Instead, I kicked a stray rock before changing the subject of conversation.

"Not so cold today, huh?"

A slight laugh escaped him, a stark contrast to how stoic he had been only moments before. "And here I remember that you didn't quite like talking about the weather?"

"Well it's not like you're offering many thrilling conversational topics," I quipped, pinning him with a teasing look.

He rolled his eyes good naturedly, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "Well then, fine, yes, the weather is very nice today."

Suddenly, he began to veer off of the course we'd once taken to the lunch room. "You're going the wrong way," I objected, staying firmly rooted to my spot.

"I never said that we were going to the cafeteria, did I?" He drawled, nodding his head as an invitation to follow.

I hesitated. If Bella and I's research was even a little bit true, it would certainly be a _very_ bad idea to follow him. But, then again, _what if we're wrong?_

The clearing of Jasper's throat, as well as the expectant way in which he regarded me made me begin to follow him against my better judgement.

After besting a moderate incline, we came upon a thick-trunked tree whose leaves had still clung to its spindly branches resiliently throughout the almost passed winter. Jasper seemed to have been aware of its existence, though, as he gracefully perched himself atop one of the thick roots which had grown above ground without hesitation.

I followed in suit, sitting on a patch of grass which was relatively dry underneath the protection of the tree's foliage.

"Why're we here?" I asked, leaning back onto the tree's trunk as I regarded him.

"You don't like it?" He asked, quirking a brow.

"No! I mean, no as in of course I like it. But I also don't think that we're allowed to just skip out of class."

"Lunch is a mandatory class now? And anyways, we're still on school property, I think."

I nodded. "Aren't you hungry, anyways? I thought teenaged boys were supposed to never want to skip out on a meal."

He chuckled. It oftentimes seemed that Jasper laughed at the points in conversation that didn't quite make sense to me, much to my bemusement.

He shrugged, making a 'so-so' motion with his hand.

I gave him a reprimanding look as I fished out my own lunch from my bag. "Here, take half of mine."

Jasper shook his head almost instantly. "No, no that's quite alright."

"No, I'm serious" I said with more finality, extending half of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich I had made that morning. "You're not allergic, are you?"

He shook his head, a strange expression on his face as he took the sandwich half. "You're sure?"

I nodded. "You need to eat, Jasper. Growing young boy and all that."

He scoffed. "I think that I'm done growing, thank you very much."

Jasper was quite tall, and I was sure that he'd tower above me still even if he were not sitting on the higher perch of the tree root. I was also quite sure that he would dwarf Carter, which would be quite amusing after his constant bragging.

"Thank you," He said, meeting his eyes filled with a genuine appreciation. He inspected the food for a long period, and almost grimaced before taking a bite and chewing strangely slowly.

"So," He spoke again. "Do you know what I heard?"

I quirked a brow in response as I chewed.

"I heard that a poor boy got his spring fling dreams crushed this weekend." He finished, and I was sure that he was hiding a smirk behind the conveniently placed sandwich half.

My eyes widened as I groaned, leaning my head back against the tree trunk. "You heard about that? How?"

"Small town? And that Jessica girl talks a _lot._ "

I sighed, running a hand down my face.

"I mean, I think that it's kind of funny, if that helps at all." He said around a bite of lunch.

I landed a smack to his knee. "Jasper! That's not funny, I felt so bad!"

He let out another deep chuckle. "What? It's not my fault. Eric Yorkie didn't ask _me_ to the spring fling."

I couldn't help but snort at the thought of Eric and Jasper attending a school dance together.

"I wouldn't say that just yet. As far as I know he's still on the lookout for a date. I don't suppose you've picked out a dress yet?"

He chortled slightly, almost choking on the lunch we shared in amusement. He looked pensive for a moment before speaking again.

"May I ask the reasoning behind the rejection?"

I paled. _Am I really about to talk about boys with Jasper Hale?_

No, I wasn't. Not if I had any say in it, at least. Truth be told, I wasn't even sure of the answer. Of course, I hadn't wanted to lead Eric on at all. That simply wasn't the sort of girl I was. But there was a bit more to it, if I was to tell myself the truth. I had thought about Jasper, for a brief moment at the time that Eric asked me, even though I truly had no right to. It had brought a strange twist to my gut to think of being on the arm of anyone but the tall blond.

 _It's getting harder and harder to rationalize this not being a crush._

I supposed that if Jasper Hale _was_ some sort of mind reader, he'd have at least some reaction to that statement, so mind reader was ruled out.

"I'll be in Seattle with Bella that weekend," I responded to avoid any in depth discussion about Eric Yorkie's eligibility all together.

He dipped his head slightly, and we sat in a comfortable silence for a while as I picked at the strings of one of the rips on my blue jeans.

"I quite like what you've done today," Jasper said out of the blue, as he reached over and trailed a finger down the thick braid I had plaited that morning.

I almost shivered at his closeness, despite the fact that he wasn't even truly touching me. I had decided that the most frustrating thing about him was the way in that his actions balanced precariously between platonic touch and something more, and I could never quite decide his intent.

Rationally, I knew that it would be best to assume that our relationship was strictly that of friends, with no other implications. After all, each time I saw Jasper it almost seemed that he had become more attractive since the last time I'd seen him, with an almost ever-increasing radiance about him.

To be certain, there was no way that he could have the slightest bit of romantic interest in me, even in a town so small. I didn't necessarily view myself as unattractive, no, but rather just felt that would certainly pale in comparison to the model-esque woman that was almost certainly destined for someone like Jasper Hale.

But then again, who could really blame me for questioning the blurred lines of our friendships when he made the time to escort me on long, lazy walks, continuously brushing against my shoulder or meeting my eyes with an expression that was almost _too warm?_

Now was certainly one of those times where my mind wandered. It was quite difficult to reign in any appraising thoughts about him whilst we were alone with nothing else to distract me from his company. It was certainly difficult, when looking at Jasper, to not get too caught up in it all and stare for an inordinate amount of time. He simply had one of those faces that drew people in.

At this moment, I was currently debating my favorite feature of his. As vain and frivolous as it sounded, it was a serious dispute in my mind. A part of me deep within my navel stirred at the way his clothes strained to contain his muscled shoulders, as well as the distinct squareness of his jaw.

Where he was well-toned, it was not overly so where muscles awkwardly bulged out at strange angles, but rather in a more attractively lithe way.

I also decided that I liked the way that his torso thinned out as it blended into narrower hips, only accentuating the width of his shoulders.

But it would be an injustice to leave his facial features out of the discussion. His hair was certainly my favorite part, or the cleft of his chin. I had never known that I liked the look of longer hair on boys, but now it seemed to be a major facet to his attractiveness. Had I ever liked blonds before?

A quick mental survey revealed that I'd mainly preferred brunettes in my time in Vermont, but now that seemed almost blasphemous, especially with the way that his hair so closely matched the warm tone of his irises. His thick locks seemed like they'd be heavenly to run your fingers through, I thought in passing.

I had just gotten around to admiring the perfect curve to his rouged lips when I noticed that they were moving.

"Diana?" He asked, those perfects lips quirked in amusement.

I straightened, heat rushing to my cheeks as I realized that I'd fallen victim to studying him after specifically setting out not to do so.

"Thank you," I blurted, my hands flying to the braid and toying with it.

He opened his mouth as if to speak once more, an almost knowing glint in his golden eyes before a strong breeze caused the branches above to tremble, showering us in icy droplets left over from the last rainfall.

He frowned as I shivered slightly, pulling my thin jacket closer to my skin.

"Here, take this," He said as he pulled off the dark brown leather jacket that had previously adorned his shoulders.

I opened my mouth to argue, only to be met with a chastising look in response, as if he'd known I would be difficult.

"A sandwich for a jacket," He said, extending the bundle of leather

It _was_ rather cold underneath the tree's shade.

"Thank you," I said, slipping the jacket on, letting it hang limply over the shoulder encased in my sling. It dwarfed me, which was a surprise as I wasn't a necessarily petite, frail girl. Another surprising thing was the absence of any sort of warmth upon putting it on. Sure, the material was insulation enough, but I had been expecting at least a slight indication of body heat as Jasper had been wearing it for at least the last two class periods.

That thought was swept from my mind, though, as I was engulfed by the potent scent surrounding the jacket. It was distinctly _male,_ with a sort of earthy, smoky essence behind a thick layer of pine. Pine, in addition to any sort of sweet smell, had always been a favorite scent of mine and brought back memories of long family hikes in happier times.

"A motorcycle jacket?" I asked recognizing the similarities of the worn jacket to the one that my father had worn when he'd owned a motorcycle. After a while, the vehicle had collected dust in our garage until he'd pawned it off just before the move.

He nodded "Keeps the wind out well enough."

I perked up slightly. "You've actually got a motorcycle? No way."

He chuckled at my obvious disbelief, nodding. "Way."

I furrowed my brows in skepticism. "I've never seen it"

He countered my argument quickly, seeming to enjoy the back and forth. "That wouldn't be very economical when I can just carpool with my siblings."

I pursed my lips. "Economical? No. But awesome? Definitely."

He chuckled, leaning slightly closer. "Ever been on one?"

I nodded, happy to surprise him even slightly.

"No way," He said, smirking as he used my own words against me. "And just who's bike were you on the back of?" he asked, the suggestion evident in his voice.

I laughed at how wrong he was "My Dad's."

He straightened slightly, nodding. "Well maybe we'll have to go on a ride sometime," he said coolly, leaning back against the tree's trunk.

I looked at him doubtfully. "You try and convince my parents on that one."

"If you haven't noticed I'm quite charming," He said teasingly.

I rolled my eyes good naturedly before a thought struck me.

"I never thanked you, did I?"

He quirked a brow in apparent confusion.

"For returning my book, after the accident."

He seemed slightly surprised that I mentioned it, nodding slightly. "Of course. It was the least I could do. How did you know that it was me, if I may ask?"

I chuckled. "Your mother must be a breeze if she doesn't tease you about attractive members of the opposite sex showing up at your door."

I paled. He seemed to perk up. _Shit._

"Attractive?" He asked rhetorically, that self-satisfied smile of his appearing on his face.

"I never said that," I denied, my eyes wide.

"Oh, but I think you just did" He said, his smile growing wider as my face became hotter.

"I was paraphrasing," I said as I quickly rose from my seat, hearing the distant bell toll within Forks high school.

"Oh, I don't think that you were. Maybe paraphrasing your deepest inner thoughts, secrets and desires," He teased, the amusement clearly tangible in his voice.

"Oh, you wish," I said, laughing in attempt to distract him from my obvious embarrassment as I descended from the slope leading up to the tree as quickly as possible.

Suddenly, my world was spinning as my foot landed on a particularly wet patch of grass. Just as I was about to slip, I was surprised to feel a certain coldness seeping through my jeans at my hip, but not from the chill of the dew upon the grass.

No,rather, it was from Jasper's hand, his right firmly clasped around my hip and the other around my waist to steady me, carefully avoiding my slinged shoulder.

I hardly had the time to question how he'd moved so fast when I noticed how wide his eyes had gone at our closeness.

it seemed that he hadn't even expected the touch, his hands quickly abandoning their rather intimate hold on me.

It seemed that he was the flustered one for once, I thought as my heart hammered in my chest from the interaction. He seemed to avoid looking at me for a moment as we walked, his hands stuffed deep into his pockets

He was quiet for a while before speaking again. "Well, maybe I do,"

"You're insufferable," I said, clearing my throat in a slight embarrassment as his long legs allowed him to easily keep pace with me.

"I'll take insufferable and attractive."

I groaned in frustration, tugging open one of the doors into the school "I never said you were,"

"And I never said that you weren't," He countered from behind me. I could almost hear his smile as he uttered the words quieter than he'd been speaking before.

My jaw slackened, but when I turned to respond, I was only met with his retreating back, though I could almost make out the devilish smile broadening his face.

* * *

Later that day, Bella stood beside her truck, her arms crossed over her chest as she met me with an accusatory look.

"What?" I asked cautiously.

"What do you mean what?" She asked incredulously. "I waited by my locker for you for like twenty minutes and you never showed."

I had completely forgotten that Bella and I had planned to meet before lunch that day. I smacked my forehead in realization. "Oh gosh, I'm sorry Bella, I got distracted and-"'

I paused upon realizing that she was not listening, but rather regarding the jacket I was wearing with an amused sort of understanding. I had completely forgotten that I'd had it on, already used to his comforting weight and warmth upon my shoulders.

"As, I see _. 'Distracted._ '" She said, mirth evident in her tone.

"Oh, don't even start," I said as I threw my backpack into the bed of the truck. "I've dealt with enough today."

She chuckled as she climbed into the driver's seat. "I won't even ask. But just be careful being alone with him," she said with concern. "If were right, that is."

I nodded. "I thought the same thing, but figured that it would be a little suspicious to just refuse to be anywhere near him." That seemed like an excuse for myself. I almost knew that I could never refuse to be around him, anyways.

"I've got news," Bella said, her demeanor changing to excitement quickly as she pulled out of her parking space. "We're going to Port Angeles this Thursday with Jess and Angela, to help them shop for spring fling dresses."

I perked up. "That's the perfect excu-" I started before being cut off by Bella slamming on the brakes, causing me to lurch forward.

Edward Cullen's silver Volvo was halted just inches away from Bella's bumper, which had threatened to do a number on the sleek vehicle. She was glaring at it with sheer animosity, revving her engine up slightly. I looked at her as if she'd finally gone off the deep end.

I was pulled from that thought by a sudden, harsh rapping resounded on the window beside me. Tyler Crowley stood beside the passenger's side door, a bright smile on his face.

I cranked the window down, wincing at the harsh screech that it caused. "There's a bit of a traffic buildup," I said apologetically as I gestured to the Volvo in front of us.

"Oh, no it's not that," He said, his smile remaining intact as he shifted his focus to Bella. "I was actually just going to ask Bella if she'd want to go to the dance with me next weekend."

I couldn't help it. I poorly disguised a chortle behind my hand, struggling to contain the laughter at Bella's shocked expression. She muttered an excuse about being in Seattle that weekend, elbowing me in the side just below his line of sight.

Tyler's face fell in a slight disappointment before he regained his previous smile, turning to look at me. "Ana? How about you?"

I gaped at his unabashedness, a little offended to be the rebound. I chose to just crank the window closed in his face rather than respond.

It was Bella's turn to break out into laughter at my sour expression.

"Why was I the rebound?" I exclaimed. "I'm the one who he apparently hit."

Bella chuckled. "Maybe he just doesn't want to step on any toes." She said, nodding out the windshield.

There stood Jasper, about to climb into the backseat of the Volvo once Alice's petite frame was fully in. He wasn't even attempting to hold in what seemed like a deep laughter. Whether it was aimed towards my plight or directly at Tyler, I wasn't sure. Either way, I simply met him with a glare before he was inside the Volvo that now sped off outside of the school parking lot.

"That's not even-I don't-"I began to stumble as Bella began to pull out of the lot as well.

"I didn't say anything," She said, with laughter clearly in her voice despite her denial.

 _Is everyone in this town against me?_

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	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Hello everyone! I hope you're enjoying my story and that this chapter won't disappoint! As always thank you to everyone who has followed, favorited, and especially reviewed!**

 **Review from GeeImKate (chapter 13) - I'm so happy that you enjoy their progressing relationship! I do plan on having some real interaction between Diana and Edward, which I am of course excited for! As for our Port Angeles trip…I guess you'll just have to see ;)**

 **Review from TatianeGrimes (Chapter13) - You've made my day! I often re-read my favorite fanfictions, too, but I didn't think that anyone would like mine enough to do so! I hope my updates aren't too painfully slow. Also, it is so awesome that people from so far enjoy my writing! Thank you for reviewing!**

 **Review from Cheyennebrooke (Chapter 13) – Thank you so much for reviewing! I always appreciate new readers, especially those who give feedback! I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

 **Review from Kurono Vixen Yami (Chapter 13) - Me too! I'm so excited to really get into the juicy parts of the story, and I certainly plan on this chapter taking us there ;)**

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The heels of the shoes that adorned my feet clicked continuously against the white marble floor on which I spun. A large, pale yellow skirt billowed around my ankles as my dance partner flared me to his arm's length.

I was quickly spun back against a grey clad chest, shining with golden medals which twinkled in the light. Two firm arms pulled me close, a pair of flaxen braids woven onto each of his sleeves. A lingering glance through my lashes sent my heart fluttering as I looked into Jasper's eyes. He sent me a quick, sly wink before twirling me outwards even faster than before, which almost turned me into a stumbling mess of giggles.

I could see his ill-fated attempt to conceal laughter at my moment of clumsiness, a deep chuckle threatening to bubble it way to the surface.

Looking upon the scene from a separate point of view, I was surprised to see the ornate architecture of the high-ceilinged room that we were in, as well as the fact that the marble floor was occupied my numerous other couples, each man dressed in attire similar to Jasper's, though they varied in decoration.

The women, however, were draped in the same bell-skirt dresses as I, which ranged in every shade imaginable, allowing for a beauteous display as each couple weaved across the floor with skill.

I knew that this could only be another dream upon noticing the small size of my waist that could not be natural, the neatness of my hair that had been twisted atop my head carefully, and the fluidity and grace with which I moved, as if I had done this complex dance countless times before.

The merry tune of the music seemed to have everyone in a cheerful mood, even the stern, most impressively decorate man who stood above the crowd on a high balcony, just above a large banner which carried the Confederate emblem.

"You look lovelier than any other here, my darling." He said, his hand resting upon my side as the occupants of the ballroom shifted into a tamer dance.

"You flatter me, Major." I spoke for the first time, shaken by the fact that the same charming accent was present in my own speech.

"Is it a crime to flatter a beautiful woman?" He asked, his accent coating each word like honey.

"When you're just gonna go on to another battle and break her poor little heart, than yes it is, sir."

He laughed at my quickness, flashing a perfectly straight line of pearlescent teeth. "Just have to go teach the yanks a lesson, and then I'll be back to you, same as I always am, dear."

He spun me once more quickly, and at the movement's unexpectedness, I nearly slipped upon stepping in a thick sort of liquid. My stomach churned as I looked down apprehensively, nearly gagging as I saw that the once pristine ivory floors were now stained a deep scarlet.

The blood had stained my once light canary skirt a sickly burgundy, its source a thick stream leading out of my peripheral, where I willed myself to not look.

Unfortunately, it seemed I had no true control over myself as my gaze was helplessly drawn to the mass of the corpses of the party goers who were so lively only moments before. The previously pristine formal dresses worn by the ladies and thick woolen coats of the men were now torn and disheveled, stained with their own blood. Each guest's face was frozen in a horrified expression, each more grim than the last.

Jasper stood beside me, his once white gloves stained red as he held my hand. I was appalled upon seeing the fresh blood still running down his chin, dribbling down onto his uniform and staining his medals of honor with the guests lifeblood. He smiled as he looked upon the mountain of bodies.

I could feel the heat of the liquid through my thin shoes, which were now thoroughly soaked. The sickening metallic scent wafted through the air as I struggled against Jasper's iron grip on my hand.

One of the guest's faces seemed to look right at me, his dull eyes boring into my own.

Suddenly, the scene changed. My surroundings became somewhat familiar as the tall pines came into focus. The same middle-aged man as before lay in the dirt by a dock, a pile of freshly cut lumber clear in the background of the terrifying image. His face was aghast, blood leaking from a large open wound in his neck as a menacing, echoing laughter sounded.

* * *

I woke with a gasp, my hand clasped over my mouth, almost willing myself to not be sick at the pure vividness of what I'd just seen. My breathing was uneven as I took in the darkness of my bedroom, my eyes frantically searching the shadowy corners for any unknown assailant.

I sighed, rubbing my tired eyes. I wasn't sure how long I could carry on like this. Ever since the first nightmare the previous week, I was plagued by similar dreams each night. The lack of sleep was starting to make itself physically apparent. Each morning, I tried my best to cover the dark circles that had taken up residence beneath my eyes. More than once, I found myself starting at the sound of the bell at the end of a class period, unaware that I'd even dozed off.

My parents had been constantly hovering over me, concerned with the thought that my nightmares of the crash had begun again.

 _They'd definitely be even more concerned if they knew the actual subject of my nightmares._

It was concerning, really. Whenever I was with asper or thought of him in my waking hours, I was fond of him, able to banter carelessly and enjoy his company. But in my sleep, his terrifying fictitious alter ego plagued me and made it difficult to face him the next day.

I rubbed my tired eyes, trying to erase the hauntingly empty eyes of the unfamiliar man from my dreams.

As I prepared for the school day, I desperately hoped that I'd perk up by the afternoon. Today was the day that we'd planned to go to Port Angeles, and I'd preferred to not stumble through my first visit to the tourist trap half asleep.

When I arrived downstairs, I opted for the more caffeinated beverage of coffee rather than my usual daily thermos full of tea.

As I sat, I massaged my temples while nursing my coffee. Soon enough, I was alerted of another presence by the clearing of my mother's throat. She hovered in the doorway, a concerned look on her face as she slung the bag that she oftentimes took to work over her shoulder.

"Are you okay, honey? I feel like you're not getting enough sleep."

I took this statement as evidence that my attempt to hide the signs of my exhaustion were not successful.

I nodded slightly, making an affirming sound from deep within my throat. "Just a little worn out."

 _That's an understatement._ Between balancing schoolwork and this whole Cullen thing, I oftentimes felt that I was on the verge of collapse.

She nodded, the worried creases in her forehead deepening. "If you need a bit of a break from school, than that's perfectly fine. I can call in sick for you if you want."

I shook my head. If I were to miss school, I surely wouldn't be allowed to go on the Port Angeles trip, and I was _not_ missing out on that.

"I'm fine, Mom. Actually, I was wondering if I could go out tonight."

Her expression was at first surprised, and somewhat pleased, before flashing to something more doubtful.

"Oh, I don't know Ana. Maybe you should just stay home and get some rest," she said hesitantly.

I became slightly more pleading. "I'll be okay, Mom, honest. I'll even sleep for a bit once I get home. Bella and I just promised Jess and Angela that we'd help them pick out dresses for the spring fling."

She perked up slightly. I knew that the suggestion of a girl's night would sway her. "Bella? The chief's daughter?" She asked pensively. I knew that the insurance policy of having the police chief's daughter in attendance would help to convince her.

I nodded hopefully, only to be met with a strangled sigh. "I-I guess so. But it's a school night, so you promise me that you'll be home by say…ten o'clock."

I smiled, my weariness momentarily forgotten in triumph. "Thank you Mom, I'll be home in time, I promise." I said, landing a kiss on her cheek as I skirted around her in the doorway after having heard the tell-tale rumble of Bella's arrival.

* * *

"You look _awful,"_ Bella said, aghast as I climbed into her truck.

"Thanks, Bella. Means a lot." I said sarcastically.

She looked over at me empathetically as she pulled onto the main road. "Did you get any sleep last night?"

"Just enough for another nightmare." I said, looking out the passenger's side window.

I saw her cringe slightly from the corner of my eye. "Anything new?"

I shook my head slightly. "Nothing too different."

She nodded slightly, seemingly deciding to switch to a more lighthearted topic after a few minutes of silence. "Did you get permission for Port Angeles tonight?"

I livened up slightly, nodding. "Jess will be picking us up, right?"

She nodded, pulling into the parking lot of the High School. "Around four."

"And you've got the address of the bookshop?" I asked, my tone slightly hushed at the mention of the underlying reason of the trip.

She nodded, holding up a blotched address scrawled upon her palm. I chuckled slightly.

"You sure you can read that, Bells?"

She rolled her eyes slightly before regarding my arm with curiosity. "When do you get that sling off, anyways?"

I smiled widely. "This weekend! I can't wait. It'll be so nice to stretch it out."

She nodded. "I bet. And I'll try to not put us in anymore situations that'll involve injury on your part."

I chuckled before we parted separate ways for first period. "Thank you very much."

* * *

Alice was unexplainably missing from French, resulting in me being bored out of my mind for the entirety of the class period without my gregarious friend.

Calculus, as usual, was terribly monotonous. The only notable events were the icy glares sent my way by Jasper's twin for seemingly no reason, as well as the fortunate fact that my teacher did not notice my accidental dozing off for a majority of the period.

When I arrived in history class, was almost certain that I would be unable to survive the rest of the day. Upon sitting at my desk, I instantly slumped over, resting my bleary eyes. I wasn't quite certain how much time had gone buy until I felt the warmth of my thermos being pressed into my hand.

I sat up slightly, blinking rapidly to clear my eyes. Jasper sat at the desk beside mine, a look of slight concern plastered on his face. "You alright, darlin'?"

I nodded slightly, struggling to contain a yawn.

His forehead creased in doubt. "When's the last time you got a decent night's rest?" He asked, nodding at the travel cup, indicating that I should drink my slightly caffeinated beverage.

I shrugged, taking a swig of my now lukewarm coffee before answering. "I'm actually not so sure, exactly."

He shook his head in frustration. "Well than you had better get some rest tonight."

I shook my head. "Can't. I'm going to Port Angeles tonight"

I knew that rationally, I probably shouldn't have let that bit of information slip. After all, a large factor of why I was going to the small sea-side town was to do some research on the strange circumstances of Jasper's family.

He quirked a brow. "Why can't you go another night?"

I yawned once more, haphazardly stifling it behind my hand. " We're going spring fling dress shopping. Very important."

His lips quirked upwards slightly, hinting at the quip that was surely formulating within his mind. "You've given Eric another chance? Or is it Tyler Crowley?"

"Shut up," I groaned, burying my face I my hands at the reminder of the boy's proposition. "Dresses for Jessica and Angela, not me."

With that, Mr. Jefferson silenced the class and began his lesson. My mind wandered during his lecture after a strange burst of energy overcame me inexplicably. I decided that I felt a little guilty about my motive for going to Port Angeles. It was a little difficult to justify the slightly underhanded action whilst sitting next to my friend Jasper, who would almost certainly be offended if he knew the truth.

The rest of the school day passed without much incident besides the solidifications of the day's plans during lunch. Both Bella and I were quite pleased to learn that the snooty girl at the table, Lauren Mallory, was occupied with other plans, meaning that only we four would be visiting Port Angeles that night. All plans were set; with Jessica assuring Bella and I that she and Angela would be in our respective driveways at around four thirty that afternoon.

When I arrived home, I stayed true to my word and instantly took a much needed nap, hardly even making it to my bed. It was a literal blessing that the brief rest was uneventful and dreamless as I cradled my sling-encased arm to my side in case I were to roll over.

Upon waking, I took the time to tame my sleep mussed hair, smoothing it into a more presentable style for the impending night on the town. I also changed into a nicer outfit composed of blue jeans and a blouse, finding my ensemble from the day at school to look quite frumpy now that I was more energetic.

 _It's rather strange,_ I thought to myself as I brushed on a minimal amount of makeup to reduce any signs over lingering tiredness, _that I should think about things as inconsequential as girls nights and makeup while I should be worrying about the Cullens existence every waking minute._

I couldn't fully blame myself, though. It was exquisitely liberating to surrender myself to more teenaged thought processes after the entire week that Bella and I had spent cramming supernatural theory books. Being that I had been thoroughly isolated in Vermont, it had truly been ages since I'd last experienced an estrogen-fueled girl's night. I had to admit that I was inordinately excited about the plans.

As I heard Jessica's car quietly rumble into my driveway, I threw my wallet and a few other essentials into a scarcely used purse and headed towards the door. The quiet crackle that Jessica's car made in my driveway was in stark contrast to the deafening battle cries produced by Bella's Chevy each morning, though Jess quickly leaned on the horn to announce her arrival.

* * *

Upon climbing into Jessica's sleek white mercury, I saw that everyone else had already been picked up. Angela had taken the passenger's seat, leaving Bella and I to occupy the back.

The drive across the little peninsula on which Forks was located was just over an hour, so we all had ample time to gossip and sing along the way. The upbeat pop songs that we all sang out of tune were in stark contrast to the toned down indie songs that I'd grown to like from spending so much time with Bella. My constant presence within her truck meant that I had become accustomed to her music choice, and had even begun to enjoy it myself. Personally, I had always grown up with classic songs reminiscent of older times, but had been unable to convince Bella to favor such songs as well.

When the bubbly mainstream songs had died down, our group transitioned into conversation, which was unsurprisingly led by Jessica.

"So, Mike _finally_ asked me to the spring fling-"She began as we zipped by a sign displaying our close proximity to our destination, moving by in a blur due to her tendency to speed. "It was totally cute, because he was like, super nervous, you know?"

I shot Bella a humorous look as Jessica rambled on, Angela nodding attentively and interrupting with questions just when she was supposed to. I found it quite funny, how Bella had instantly ducked her head at the mention of the boy after having to redirect his romantic advances towards Jess.

It was evident that Mike still harbored feelings towards Bell, as it was plain to see by the way his eyes were often drawn to her.

Bella responded with a look of her own, though hers was clearly that of a warning. I kept my jibes to myself, rather focusing back in on the conversation between the girls in the front seats.

Angela had taken over the responsibility of leading the conversation, her quieter voice explaining her plight.

"Ben still isn't even looking for a suit," She lamented, obviously frustrated. The dance is only a few weeks away and he isn't even worried about it!"

"Boys will be boys, I suppose," I responded. "At least it's easier for them. They can throw on any old suit and look fine."

Just as I said that, the small seaside town came into view. While Jess and Angela didn't seem too interested, Bella and I both craned our necks to see it through the windshield, as it was our first view of any civilization that wasn't Forks in a while.

It wasn't too spectacular, having only clusters of small buildings, though it was certainly more impressive than Forks. A large dock that stretched out into the bay was also visible, tethering numerous boats that bobbed in the water lazily.

"It's pretty," Bella said, clearly joyous to be anywhere with a denser population.

Jessica seemed to spare a quick glance out the window. "Yeah, I guess so," She responded without much interest.

* * *

Soon enough, we found ourselves in the shop which was stationed well within the town. The racks were not overflowing with options, but had a bit of variety. Back in Vermont, the shops had certainly been better stocked. I had been asked to a prom once, and it had been considerably harder to search through those crowded racks for a decent dress.

Whereas I aided Jess and Angela in their hunt, Bella seemed considerably distracted as she stared at nothing in particular through the store's large glass window.

"Can you at least try to look like you're helping?" I asked over my shoulder as I hung yet another dress over my arm, reasoning that the beading would flash in the lights nicely.

"Sorry," She mumbled, standing to sift through a tray of various glittering necklaces and earrings that would go nicely with the dresses I'd picked out for our friends. "I just want to get to that book shop,' she said, returning her forlorn gaze to the window.

"We have time," I responded, shrugging. "We'll just spend bit more time here before going."

It turned out that my choice in dresses was exemplary, as both girls were quite happy with my selections. For Jess, I'd chosen a shorter, dusty rose dress that gathered around her knees and didn't wash out her tanned skin. As for Angela, one of my many options had struck her fancy. Specifically, she ended up admiring herself in a deep blue dress that clung to her tall figure. Suddenly, she perked up as if remembering something.

"Oh, Ana," She started as she quickly sorted through a few discarded dresses which had been left hanging on the rack behind her. "This one didn't fit me right, but I think the color would complement you well."

I regarded the flowy powder blue dress with confusion. "It's nice, Angela, but isn't prom too far away to already be shopping?"

I said this with slight disappointment, as all of the spring fling preparations of the trip had me wishing that I would be going after all. But unfortunately, it was definitely too late to back pedal on the Seattle trip excuse.

"Told you," Jess muttered as she admired herself from various mirrors in the mirror.

I glanced between them with confusion, and a glance at Bella revealed that she was as equally in the dark as I was.

Angela clarified upon seeing my bewildered expression. "Well, I just thought that you were going with Tyler;" She said timidly, picking at the dress' belt of rhinestones to seem casual.

I gaped in disbelief "Why _on earth_ would you think that?"

"He told us that he was taking you last week," Jessica answered. "That day you were late to lunch."

I aimed my accusatory gaze at Bella, shaken that she hadn't told me. Her hands shot up in defense.

"Hey, I was late, too. Remember? I was waiting for you at your locker."

Her alibi checked out, but I groaned nonetheless. "Why would he tell anyone that? I literally said no!"

"Well, technically, you didn't," Bella amended with a pointed look. "You just rolled up the window."

I scowled, realizing that she was right. "Well, I'm still going to kill him."

Dropping the topic, I began to hold up Bella's choice of dangly gold earrings up to Jess' ears with a little bit of aggression due to my frustration.

Just then, a group of men not many years older than our grouping sauntered by the window, making approving whoops and hollers as their eyes ran over us. Bella cleared her throat slightly from behind me, taking advantage of the distraction.

"So, Ana and I wanted to get to a bookshop across town," She started, her eyes darting between Jess and Angela, gauging their reactions. "Would you guys mind if we went?"

Angela was the first to respond, shaking her head as she admired the way that a silver heel wrapped around her slender ankle. "Of course you can. You guys will meet us at the restaurant?"

Jessica spoke again. "It's a place called Bella Italia, just by the boardwalk."

Bella nodded, grabbing me by the arm and beginning to pull me towards the door. I pressed the earrings into Jessica's palm, a mournful look plastered on my face as I was forced to abandon my duties.

* * *

"I was having fun, you know," I complained to Bella as we walked down the picturesque streets of Port Angeles.

Bella gave me a pointed look as she crossed her arms. Only Bella would find it cold on what was arguably the warmest day of the month.

"Yes, I know, but don't forget that we're technically only here to look for this bookstore," She reminded me, waving her ink-stained hand in emphasis.

I nodded, accepting defeat and choosing to casually window shop as we passed by the innumerable pastel storefronts, which were so brightly lit that they practically screamed _'come in! Buy something!'_

It wasn't too long before we reached the bookstore, which was nestled away in a quieter corner, away from the hustle and bustle that Port Angeles was known for.

I made a doubtful face at Bella as we ascended the steps to the small bookshop after seeing the strange glittering crystals and adverts for spiritual self-help books in the large window.

"It can't hurt to try," She reasoned as she pushed open the store's thick wooden door.

The thick smell of incense hit us both like a wall, so much so that it was nearly suffocating. I tried my best to stifle a cough behind my hand, missing the cool, fresh air that I'd breathed just moments before.

The copper skinned Native American man with a strange faraway look in his eyes greeted us kindly enough, his voice a low, dreamy tone.

Bella took to inquiring about the book while I took the time to wander through the dusty shelves which were stocked with all sorts of worn novels and odd spiritual items.

Bella and I departed from the small shop with the bag at my side just a little heavier. Not only had we purchased the book, but I'd also decided to buy a small dreamcatcher, the small beads woven into it having caught my eye. I had bought it in hopes that it might be at least slightly effective in warding off the terribly persistent nightmares that had visited me on most nights for the past few weeks.

The distant man at the counter had been quite friendly, as well. He seemed to have noticed the fact that we were somewhat tourists to the small seaside town and had supplied us with one of those illustrated little maps often present in shops.

My nose was now buried in that map as Bella and I walked down a narrow pathway leading away from the bookstore as I tried to make sense of it

"Jess said that the restaurant was by the boardwalk, right?" I asked Bella, glancing over at her from the edge of the map.

Bella simply made an affirming noise, her head craned upwards to look at the warm pastel colors that had overtaken the sky.

"If we get there soon enough, maybe we can see the sun set over the water," I mused before continuing. "Except I can't really tell if the boardwalk is this spot of here, or that weird little ink blot over there," I said as I pointed to the poorly drawn shapes upon the colorful map.

Bella leaned over my shoulder, her brown eyes widening in realization. "I think that we were supposed to turn back here," She said, trailing her slender pointer finger down the map to retrace out steps, "And not where we did."

She hesitated before speaking again. "And also," she muttered, an edge of laughter in her voice as she turned the map to its correct position, "We're definitely lost."

I groaned at my own stupidity. " _Why_ do I have to be so directionally challenged?"

And it was true. I'd proven numerous times that I could not be trusted with directions. I had gotten the entire Lansing family lost on too many occasions to count. Countless vacations had included me taking a wrong turn at the wrong trail head, and too many times had I been driving Carter somewhere and ended up at the wrong destination entirely.

Bella laughed. "Aren't those maps supposed to be easy enough for children to understand?"

I stuck my tongue out at her. "I _tried_ to tell you that I couldn't read maps!"

She chuckled. "I didn't know that you actually _couldn't"_

"You can't walk without tripping, I can't read maps"

She rolled her eyes, laughing breathily. "Fair point. I think if we take that turn up there we'll end up on the main street anyways."

I jostled her slightly as we began walking again. "So I didn't get us lost, not fully."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Ana."

We continued down the narrow side street until it blended into a more closed off area, the buildings on either side of us becoming taller and more like walls, the street lamps becoming scarcer as we traveled on.

The sun had long since set by the time we next found it suitable to check the map. Try as I might, I couldn't make out any of the writing in the dim lighting.

"Bells?" I said quietly, my tone hushed as I tried to hide my concern regarding the situation.

She was already looking over my shoulder, her eyes squinting in an attempt to see any of the maps details.

She cleared her throat slightly, maybe to make her voice sound stronger, more confident. "I'm sure this street will branch out to somewhere we recognized," She said as she walked. I couldn't shake the thought that it sounded like she was trying to convince herself of that, as well.

As we progressed down the dark road, it seemed as if we both unconsciously huddled closer as the light inevitably diminished more. The lack of sun and the coldness of the stone buildings on either side of us had eradicated any of the day's previous warmth, and for once I was shivering alongside Bella.

It wasn't long until a second pair of figures meandered around the corner at the far side of the alleyway, sauntering in our direction. Maybe it was an instinctual thing, the way I immediately redirected my gaze to the wet pavement upon hearing their boisterous laughter. Maybe some part of me just knew that I should be afraid.

I noticed that Bella had behaved similarly, shoving her hands in her pockets and avoiding any sort of eye contact. We had almost just made it past them without incident until the shorter portly one spoke up, shouting at our retreating backs.

"Hey, honeys! Wher'you both going?"

I looked back on instinct, seeing his generous gut jiggle through an obviously stained shirt as he laughed deeply.

Bella and I both began to walk faster, desperately trying to reach the street corner where a minimal amount of light shone.

Much to our disappointment, that tight corner did not lead onto a street, but rather a sort of four way intersection of alleyways. The dim light had only been an area lit by a yellowed streetlight.

Bella and I had certainly strayed from the happy face of Port Angeles, the area that it was an unwritten rule for tourists to stay within the boundaries of.

One road was well lit, but certainly a dead end that only led to a large loading ground for whatever store it was situated near. Of the other two pathways, one was certainly much more sinister looking than the other. The alleyway straight ahead of us had only a few indistinct pinpricks of light in the distance that didn't instill much confidence in me.

The walkway to the right however was shadowy but there was clearly a street meant for vehicles at the end of it. Without even needing to communicate, Bella and I both opted to turn right.

"Those guys gave me the creeps," Bella allowed herself to say now that we were alone with a slight bit of civilization in sight.

I nodded. "Same. Good thing I did come with you rather than staying at the dress shop."

Bella hummed in agreement. "I hope we aren't t _oo_ late. I'm starving."

I was just about to respond when what I saw next made my throat go dry. Another group of men, a similar age to those we'd encountered before rounded the corner.

"Hiya, ladies," A taller, lankier one said as he casually swung a six pack in one hand. I noticed that a few cans were missing. There was a strange edge to his voice that made me uneasy.

 _That's a perfectly normal greeting, right?_ I tried to convince myself that they were only being polite with their greeting, as strangers often were when passing each other on the street. _You're just being skittish._

"Hello," Bella responded timidly, keeping her neck bent downwards. I offered a slight nod of acknowledgement before letting my mess of curls curtain my face.

A slight glance upwards made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Was I just imagining things, or were the two men walking at us with a little _too_ much purpose?

All of my instincts told me to grab Bella's hand and run to the narrow street where a few cars were passing. A more refined part of me told me that it was all a misunderstanding, and that I'd certainly look crazy grabbing my friend and making a run for it.

I decided an alternate route. I grabbed Bella's hand and turned into a side street, away from the group of men.

I almost chastised myself for this act alone. _You're with a friend, anyways. Don't people looking to hurt you usually try to find girls alone, anyways? We're evenly numbered._

A slow, slurred voice that I didn't recognize made my thoughts stop in their tracks.

"Well, well, look what we have here."

I made a noise akin to choking as a third duo of men stepped out of the shadows. A glance over my shoulder revealed the two other pairs entering the narrow alleyway.

I heard Bella's sharp intake of breath as she stepped closer to me, clutching my non-injured arm.

 _Two girls, one uncoordinated, and the other with only one usable arm. Six men._ This certainly wasn't a fair grouping anymore. In fact, it was foolish to think we'd even had a chance in the first place.

My eyes darted back and forth desperately, looking for even the slightest of gaps in the group of men who were now coming closer. But there was none. Bella and I had been herded, like a pair of stupid little lambs.

A few of the men had gotten nearly close enough to touch, though I could hardly make out their features with my racing mind. They were all sleazy looking, with rough, untrimmed faces and sadistic grins.

One of them reached out, gingerly moving a piece of hair from my face. "Hello there, dear."

I could smell the alcohol in his breath.

Bella spoke up, trying her best to nudge me behind her. "Stop it," She said, surprising me with how strong and commanding her voice sounded.

Another man stepped forward, laying a beefy hand on Bella's side. "You want some attention, honey?"

I felt a spike of pure rage and protective instinct flare up within me, threatening to boil over.

"Don't touch her!" I yelled, pushing her behind me fully. I hadn't even known that my voice could be so strong.

"Fiery," one of the men commented on the verge of laughter, reaching out for Bella once again. My foot moved before my mind even fully registered the shock, planting the hardest kick I could manage to the man's knee. As he groaned in pain, the one who had touched me earlier reached out, planting a hand on my injured shoulder and jostling it with considerable strength.

I yelped loudly, my hand flying to my left shoulder as I breathed unevenly through the sharp pain. I could vaguely hear Bella hitting another man through the ringing in my ears. I could hardly make out what the vile men were saying as I felt their hands upon me, my heartbeat being too resoundingly loud in my own head. I couldn't even scream. I was afraid. That sort of fear that you feel when you have a nightmare and you can't move or run away, but you feel a scream in your throat that just won't come out no matter how hard you tried.

Just then, I was blinded by a pair of bright headlights flying around the corner. I was pulled back, but whether it was by Bella or one of the men who'd had a hold on me, I wasn't sure.

Squinting against the blinding LED lights, I could almost make out its sleek, familiar shape.

 _It couldn't be…?_

Before it seemed like the speeding car had even fully stopped, a figure sprang out of the driver's seat. A gray pea coat clad figure. Edward Cullen. I nearly cried at the sight of him. I never could have imagined that I would be overjoyed to see this boy that I'd never even spoken to.

"Get in the car. _Now."_ He all but growled. He wasn't looking at either Bella or me, but rather menacingly glaring at the men surrounding us.

Suddenly, the passenger's side flew open with a certain force that I wasn't even sure was possible. A familiar tall, leather clad blonde climbed out, approaching the group of men with an expression that could only be described as _murderous._ I had never seen such an expression in my life, and it sent a certain chill down my spine.

Faster than I could even blink, Edward was in front of Jasper, his hands firmly clamped over his shoulders. I didn't have time to think about the speed of Edward's movements, though, as Bella quickly pulled me to my feet and to the Volvo, swinging the door opened and rushing me in.

When we were safely in the backseat, I couldn't help but watch the two brothers interact with interest. They were yelling back and forth, the tension between the two almost tangible. Edward was firmly planted between Jasper and the path in which the group of men had scampered away in.

Edward's voice was loud enough that you could hear it through the walls of the Volvo, though they were not clear enough to make out. He was gesturing back and forth wildly with his pale hands.

They must have reached some sort of stalemate, because both boys stormed back to the car, their forms tense as they settled into their seats. Without so much as a word, Edward accelerated at a dangerous rate back into the road, throwing me on top of Bella at the aggressiveness of the turn. Bella and I struggled to buckle out seatbelts as the bombardment of car horns sounded from behind us.

The car was dead silent, save for a rapid breathing that I could not determine if it was me or Bella. I found her hand in the darkness of the backseat and clutched it tightly. If those men hadn't killed us, Edward's driving surely would.

Strangely, before that thought had even formed in my mind, the car seemed to slow to an only _slightly_ alarming speed.

Bella must have been braver than I, because she spoke up first. "Where are we going?" Her voice was small and meek.

"Back to where you two are _supposed_ to be." He answered his ton dangerously low.

 _Great. So he's a bad driver and a stalker._

A strained laugh resounded from the driver's seat, though nobody had said anything remotely funny.

 _And creepy._

As I shifted my focus to Jasper, it was almost like looking at a stranger. In all of my previous interactions with him, Jasper had never failed to be lighthearted and friendly. But now, as he was frighteningly silent, clutching handle atop the roof, from which I was almost certain I could hear snapping plastic, he was intimidating to say the least. My eyes just couldn't quite be pulled from the insane tension in his jaw.

All of the goosebumps that had previously occupied my arms were now gone with the sweltering heat that was blasting from the car's vents. Bella must have had a similar thought process, for she leaned into the area of the front seats and moved to lower the dial. Just as her hand almost made contact with it, Edward's shot into the frame and adjusted it himself. Bella jerked her hand back, her eyes wide as she cradled it in her palm.

Before long, Edward effortlessly parallel parked in front of a returaunt with a sign that boasted the name _Bella Italia._ Jessica and Angel awere outside, their expressions concerned as they quickly typed on their cellphone's keypads. I unbuckled my seatbelt and slid out of the car first, desperate to escape the strange tension present within the car.

Jessica looked relieved as she lowered the phone from her ear, Angela shoving hers into her purse. "Thank God! Where have you guys been?" Angela asked, her eyes dancing in between Bella and I.

"We thought that you'd been like, murdered or something!" Jessica explained before her focus shifted to Edward and Jasper who had only just exited the car.

"Oh." She finished lamely, a scandalized smile overtaking her face. "I see."

Angela seemingly couldn't hide her own interest as she curiously gazed between the four of us. 'Well," she spoke up, "We already ate, so…" She trailed off, looking expectantly between Edward and Jasper.

It was Jasper who stepped forward, flashing a perfect smile before speaking for the first time that night. "I think that we'd better make sure that they get some food in them. Would either of you mind?"

I knew how Jasper normally spoke, and I was sure that he was most definitely playing up the accent. It was most definitely working, too. That was evident by how purely taken aback Jessica was, her mouth opening and closing as she searched for words.

She seemed to settle for a nod. "Uh, yeah, of course. Yeah we'll just go then," She said, taking Angela by the arm and pulling her in the direction of her white mercury. Jessica shot Bella and I a devilish smile that most certainly meant she'd expect a full run down of the night later.

I was certainly a little hesitant to not jump into the backseat of the mercury myself after seeing both Jasper and Edward's strange behavior. Jess and Angela would definitely be the safer option at this point.

Once the two girls were out of earshot, Edward turned to me. "I'm going to make sure Bella gets something to eat," He started slowly, the strange focus behind his gaze unsettling. "Will you two be joining us?"

 _Like hell I'm leaving her alone with you_ , I thought, still hesitant to trust him after the menacing way he'd seemed after first exiting the Volvo. In fact, I wasn't too keen on the thought of solitude with Jasper at the moment, even though that thought would probably normally make my stomach stir in a good way.

He chuckled before I could even brainstorm up a less rude verbal response, simply holding the door to the small Italian restaurant open for the three of us.

As I passed him, I made sure to push the book we'd purchased further into the bag at my side, not wanting to risk one of the brothers seeing the words on the binding and cuing them in to the real reason that Bella and I were in Port Angeles that night.

* * *

The restaurant was cozy, with warm lights that accented the space nicely. The four of us sat at a methodically set table in utter silence. A waitress with neatly cropped hair was currently leaning over the table, the neckline of her uniform almost certainly intentionally pulled down as she tried to coerce the males in attendance to order something.

"We're fine, ma'am, really. Just the ladies." Jasper reaffirmed, shooting her one of his killer smiles that undoubtedly left anyone with the pleasure of seeing them breathless.

The waitress, Amber, as her nametag listed, was on cloud nine, seemingly unsure of which boy to focus on.

"Well you two let me know if you change your mind," She repeated, her voice hopeful before departing.

Bella had ordered a plate of mushroom ravioli, and where that would certainly never be my first choice, I was so frazzled regarding the night's course of events that I simply ordered the same. I broke the silence for the first time that night.

"How did you find us?" I asked, my gaze darting between both Edward and Jasper, my thoughts moving rapidly as I asked another question in quick succession. "And why were you in Port Angeles?"

I gave Jasper a particularly accusatory look at that, having remembered that he'd known I would be in Port Angeles that night.

"Two groups of people can't be in the same town on the same night? By coincidence?" As he posed the question, his brow quirked in a nonverbal challenge.

"Coincidences don't happen when one person specifically knows that someone in the opposite group will be in that town before deciding to go themselves."

He pursed his lips before responding. "Well maybe that person wouldn't have to go as well if the other person could be left alone for twenty minutes without attracting trouble. Or if they could read a map."

I stiffened, jutting out my chin defiantly. "Well maybe you should stop acting so high and mighty when you're apparently a stalker."

"Well maybe you should learn how to read a map," He rebutted. "And a simple ' _thank you'_ would be sufficient."

"Thank you," I huffed heatedly, tearing my gaze away from his amused one in frustration.

Both Bella and Edward were watching the interaction, eyes wide.

"And thank you, Edward." I added more quietly.

He nodded just a bit, eyes still darting between Jasper and I with a certain emotion that I couldn't quite place.

"She brings up a fair point," Bella said, catching Edward's eyes. "How did you two find us?"

He cleared his throat, seeming to ponder his response before speaking. "We were in the area, driving around," He started carefully before his mind seemed to wander, his expression darkening considerably as he began to almost mutter to himself. "And then I heard it, the disgusting thoughts running-"

An extremely loud thumb resounded from underneath the table, Edward's gaze snapping up to Jasper's eyes, which were glaring daggers at him.

Bella spoke up, her tone disbelieving. "You heard…? So- so what? You're saying that you can read-?" she traiked off, though her unspoken question was clear

A little tiny voice in the back of my head screamed at me. _I knew it!_

Edward's eyes flicked to mine quickly before finding Bella's again, making me pale. He seemed to hesitate before speaking, the mere moments feeling like an eternity as I waited at the edge of my seat for his response.

"Every mind I've ever come into contact with. Excluding yours."

I could hardly keep control of my own thoughts in that moment, which were running out of control. A glance at Jasper revealed that he had his head in his hands, massaging his temples at Edward's revelation.

"No way. I don't believe it." Bella said firmly. "prove it."

Edward's lips quirked up in amusement, his eyes flickering over to mine before addressing me directly.

"Right now, you're thinking that I'm probably an ax murderer that escaped from the nearest institution."

My eyes widened as I looked over to Bella. "He's right."

He spoke again, regarding me with a furrowed brow. "You were…extraordinarily hard for me to figure out at first, actually. You seem to hide your own thoughts from yourself, in a way." He seemed to remember how awfully invasive it all seemed when he took in the paleness of my face. "But, of course, it's not my place to go into detail."

"You've gone into detail about everything else you're not supposed to talk about,' Jasper muttered from beside me, still looking terribly disappointed in Edward's sudden chattiness.

"You can't leave us with no other explanations," Bella insisted.

"He's right, I've said too much already." Edward said firmly, his tone weighted with finality.

The rest of the dinner passed by without too much incident, filled with tasteless mushroom ravioli Bella trying her best to get Edward to slip further without luck.

It wasn't until we were a good ways into the drive home, my forehead pressed against the window of the Volvo's glass, my eyelids fluttering with exhaustion, did Jasper utter something of interest to his brother in the front seat, his tone harsh with displeasure.

"They were _happy_ that she was in pain, a bunch of sick, masochistic…"

As it often did, the lack of sleep over the past week made itself apparent at the worst of times, and it was a fruitless attempt to keep myself conscious under the lingering weight of weariness.

 **A/N: Sorry for the later chapter guys! Please accept this 8k+ words as an apology, and please review!**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Hello everybody! I wanted to thank you all for supporting this story! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Make sure to give me some feedback: )**

 **Review from GeeImKate (chapter 14) - Stop reading my mind, haha ;) I'm glad that you liked this chapter, and we'll just have to see just how Jasper will deliver her home lol ;)**

 **Review from laraceleste (Chapter 14) - Ask and you shall receive! I hope you enjoy this chapter since it has a bit of Jasper's POV in it! Thanks so much for reviewing!**

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 **Review from Nonny-nonny (Chapter 14) - Ahhhhh thank you so much! You have no idea how much I worry about pacing and how realistic the characters are, so your review helped me out a lot in writing this! Thank you! 3**

 **Review from Hannah-Rampage (Chapter 14) - Oh my God, you have no idea how happy your comment made me! I never thought that my story could actually be anyone's favorite, so thank you so much! I hope you enjoy this chapter and its look into what Jasper is thinking/feeling. Happy reading!**

 _Had it been any other man, carrying Diana's sleeping form may have been a little strenuous at least, but Jasper Hale was not even the least bit hindered by the girl nestled in his arms._

 _He wasn't quite sure if he should have been pleased or guilty at the way that her head rested gently against his chest as if he wasn't what was arguably the most lethal predator in the world._

 _It had begun to rain just around when they'd dropped Bella off at the stoop of her house. The brunette had argued almost relentlessly against leaving her exhaustion-stricken friend in the car with both Jasper and Edward. It was a valid argument, truly, but in the end Edward was able to convince her that Mrs. Lansing would surely call upon Diana's safe return. Though it had been a hindrance and had made them even later to dropping off Diana than they would have been previously, Jasper was glad to know that Bella was a protective figure that would look after his mate on the occasion that he wasn't around to do it himself._

 _There wasn't much that he could do to protect his mate from the cold, Jasper lamented upon seeing the silvery puffs of air that drifted from her mouth, which hung slightly agape in her sleep. He had draped his thick leather jacket over her, but the combination of his own icy skin and the chilly Washington rainfall seemed to overpower the jacket's effects._

 _Diana's face looked exponentially more peaceful in her sleep, Jasper noted as he trekked down her long driveway. All of the indicators of stress that were presented during her waking hours seemed to have melted away, with her pale, smooth skin almost reflecting the gentle moonlight that shone through the occasional gap in the clouds. Her mass of curls, now slightly tamed by the rainfall that flattened it against her face contrasted beautifully with her ivory skin._

 _Looking upon that delicate face, his stomach churned in memory of the night's events. He had thanked his lucky stars that he and Edward had been able to reach the girls in time. Truthfully, he hadn't even really planned on following the two, it just sort of happened. Edward, intrusive as always, had overheard his brief decision to travel to the seaside tourist trap and decided to accompany him._

 _The night, for the better portion of the time, had gone by without incident. Edward had been combing through the minds of Jessica when he realized that Diana's mind was not accessible to him. He had been so caught up in some thought unknown to Jasper that he hadn't even realized that Bella and Diana had parted from the group._

 _Both boys had gone into a sort of hurried search, with Edward maneuvering quickly through Port Angele's streets, searching every mind for any passing thought of either girl. It wasn't until the two reached a slightly seedier part of town that Edward's head snapped in the direction of a duo of young men, his eyes hard._

 _Where Jasper's gift was not as ranged as Edward's, he was able to pick up a few of their emotions when the car neared them around a tight turn. His nonexistent blood went cold when he picked up a sick sort of excitement, mixed with a potent sort of lust stirring just beneath the surface._

 _His suspicions of the men's thoughts were solidified when Edward accelerated the Volvo to a dangerous speed, his body becoming rigid as his eyes scanned the narrow alleyways._

 _Jasper had screwed his eyes shut in concentration, both listening for either of the girl's heartbeats and straining to pick up any sort of indicative emotion._

 _His eyes had flown open upon feeling a sharp pang of fear, the unsteady and frantic rhythm of twin heartbeats invading his ears as well._

 _He hadn't even been able to say anything before Edward swerved onto a side street, hearing Jasper's thoughts as soon as they came into existence._

 _Finding where the girls were exactly was a bit more difficult, with Edward having to cruise along the street more than once, not wanting to turn into the wrong side street and getting so lost that they were unable to get to the girls in time._

 _After a while, Jasper sensed the emotions once more. He could tell that the emotions he was feeling were those of his Diana. Almost every person he'd come into contact with had had some sort of unique sort of way of feeling emotions, and his Diana was no different. Hers was certainly strange, though._

 _His mate unquestionably felt a lot, but she also seemed to bridle in her own feelings. Whenever he was tuning into her, he oftentimes felt that he was only scratching the surface. She held the intensity back, almost every single time. She felt something overwhelming._

 _He had been trying to chip away at the girl ever since they'd met, trying to navigate his way through a seemingly endless web of emotional defenses that she didn't even know she had up. Her strange self-control had made itself apparent in only two sorts of situations. The first was at seemingly random times, when he sensed some sort of looming negativity that made him wish that he'd been gifted with Edward's telepathy instead. At these moments, he always wrestled with the internal debate over manipulating her emotions. It seemed wrong to him, which was surprising due to the fact that he had no intense moral complications regarding the occasional 'aided mood shift' with other people in the past. But how horrible could taking a bad emotion away be?_

 _Reaching a stalemate with himself, he had always chosen to just distract her with conversation instead. He had only altered her emotions once or twice for trivial things, such as earlier that day, giving her much needed burst of energy, as well as the time he'd given her a confidence boost over a pop quiz a few weeks previous._

 _The other instance in which he mainly noticed her reigning herself in was during their many interactions. He had noticed it particularly when he had saved her from sliding down a wet incline, holding her body close to his. Just as her heart had begun to flutter and that certain feeling of weightlessness began to take over, she seemed to do her best to try to dampen the warmth that had blossomed within her chest. It was both endearing and frustrating to him. She certainly had some sort of blossoming feelings for him. He was entirely sure of it He felt it overtake her whenever they locked eyes across crowded room, felt her heart skip a beat whenever he let his hands brush against her. So why did she seem to continuously try to convince herself that they weren't there? Jasper supposed that if it was a challenge that he'd be faced with, he would only have to convince her that much more that the connection between the two was genuine._

 _She didn't have much of a chance at winning this self-suppressive game. When the universe, or whatever higher power presides over it, decides that you're mates, there isn't much you can do to combat that. Of course, she could try to deny the mate bond. If she decided to do such a thing, the both of them would surely be put through hell on earth. Jasper shivered at the thought. He prayed that Diana wouldn't attempt such a thing._

 _He hoped that whatever developing feelings Diana had for him were not squashed that night. He had founded fear that he may have frightened her with the intense rage that came over him when he and his brother swerved into that dank alleyway, seeing those deadbeats dare to put their hands upon the pair's mates._

 _Edward had even slipped and moved faster than humanly possible to retrain Jasper, who prayed that neither girl noticed in their fear._

 _He knew that both girls were somewhat afraid during the ride to the small Italian place where Edward had so foolishly managed to reveal his special ability. That Bella girl certainly had him wrapped around her finger, a fact that she was ignorant of._

 _She had been much bolder during the drive, interacting interrogatively with Edward often along the way. Diana had been as silent as the grave the entire time. Jasper hadn't trusted himself to speak, afraid that his words would come out harshly due to his utter rage. He had clutched the handle secured to the roof of the Volvo, shattering the plastic in his attempt to vent his anger._

 _He hoped that that would be simple enough for Rosalie or Emmett to resolve._

 _His inner monologue was interrupted by a slight shiver of the girl he so carefully held, as if she were no sturdier than glass._

 _He began to lengthen his strides, rubbing his cold hands along her sheltered arms in the hope to produce a slight amount of friction. It seemed to work, if not slightly, as the young girl nestled his head further into his firm chest._

 _Had his heart still been able to beat, its pounding surely would've faltered then. He chastised himself slightly._

Get a hold of yourself. A few years without the touch of a woman and such an innocent gesture sends you reeling?

 _He knew that it was more complex than that. Any woman he'd ever had in the past would pale in comparison to even the slightest acknowledgement from Diana. That was just the sort of intense fixation that the mate bond caused._

 _He reveled at her closeness, enjoying the warmth of her body heat bleeding into his cold skin. He reasoned that his savoring of the moment was justified, as he knew not when the next time she would be this close to him would be._

 _The pleasure that he gained from her close proximity was not sexual in any sense, no. Rather, it was just the sort of pure contentment that having your mate so close caused. It was much easier to keep his eye on the fragile, clumsy human this way, anyways._

 _As he reached the stoop of the Lansing house, he hesitated at first, not rushing to have Diana taken from his arms so soon. It was late, however, much past the time that young girls were usually expected to be home by._

 _Jasper brushed a stray curl that was firmly glued to the girl's pale forehead with rain away, returning it to its rightful place. He paused for have a second before allowing himself to trail his thumb ever so gently down the girl's face, tracing over her cheekbone before allowing the digit to ghost over her rosy lips. He let out an involuntary wistful sigh, wishing that he could simply pause time and study her face. I_

 _It seemed only natural to dip his head down, allowing his chilled sculpted lips to brush ever so gently over her dampened forehead. Despite the chill that his touch caused to run down her spine, he could almost convince himself that her lips twitched upwards in her sleep ever so slightly. Had it not been for his impeccable vision, he may not have even noticed it._

 _He landed a firm knock upon the door after reminding himself that he'd already kept her from her human world for too long already. Jasper was almost startled at the speed at which it flew open, revealing the worried faces of Jen and John Lansing. Mrs. Lansing, her frame dwarfed by Mr. Lansing's taller frame, hung apprehensively in the doorway, her eyes wide as she took in the disheveled pair._

 _Disheveled wasn't a word often used to describe Jasper Hale, but with his blonde locks hanging sloppily around his handsome face, and his jacket laid over the thoroughly-rain soaked girl in his arms, the term was fitting._

 _While Mrs. Lansing's eyes were wide with relief, the same could not quite be said of Mr. Lansing. Jasper could feel that the man was, of course, overtaken with relief, but he also regarded Jasper with an accusatory look of intense distrust._

 _It was only natural, Jasper reasoned. Had he ever become a father in his human years, he was sure that had a strange boy whom he'd never met showed up with his thoroughly disheveled daughter in his arms, he'd have similar reservations._

 _Mrs. Lansing's hand flew to her mouth in relief, her hands reaching out for her daughter._ "Oh, thank God _," the woman exclaimed, her eyes slightly moistened in relief._

 _Diana's father stepped forward quickly, his arms reaching out and taking his daughter into his grasp. Jasper helped to settle her into the man's embrace as gently as he could, not wanting to disturb the girl._

"What have you done with her?" John Lansing asked as his worried eyes scanned over his daughter, surveying her for any indications of harm that had befallen her.

 _Jasper responded quickly, eager to deny any accusation that the Lansing parents may throw his way. "_ My brother and I found her," _He started, his voice raised against the loud sound of the now heavy rainfall_. "We were in Port Angeles as well. She and Bella Swan got separated from their group and got lost."

 _The slightly fabricated statement fell easily from his lips. Technically, it was mainly the truth. He had only omitted a few details about the pair of brothers using their inhuman assets in order to find the girls in the back streets of Port Angeles._

 _He could tell that the pair was not fully convinced, so he allowed himself to give them just the slightest feeling of reassurance. Not enough to erase all of their suspicions, but just enough to put them slightly at ease, since he was sure that Diana would not be pleased with any large manipulation of her parents if she were to know the truth about him._

"What about Bella?" _Mrs. Lansing asked, her maternal instinct shining through._ "Is she home, safe?"

 _Jasper nodded in affirmation._ "I told her that you would call her to let her know that Diana has gotten home safe."

 _He hadn't even noticed Diana's younger brother, Carter, lingering a ways behind his parents, a look of concern plastered on his face._

 _She nodded._ "Thank you so much, Jasper," _Mrs. Lansing said, briefly looking up from her daughter's form_. "We were so worried,"

 _He wasn't quite sure what to do with himself now that he was relieved of the duty of carrying his mate, so he shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans before responding._

"Of course, Ma'am," _He said, struggling to not inhale while speaking. He still didn't trust himself around humans enough to let his guard down in even the slightest of ways._

 _With that, Diana's parents abandoned their position on the porch, going instead to go let Diana rest._

 _Jasper walked back down the Lansing's winding driveway, reasoning that he should make an appearance back home before returning to check in on Diana. As he walked, he pondered the intensity of the family's emotions upon seeing Diana unharmed. Their relief was almost suffocating._

 _He wasn't quite sure if that was fully normal. Sure, she was late to get home, but only by an hour or so. Wasn't it normal for tanagers to do such slightly reckless things? He wasn't sure if he had gotten out of touch with the human experience, but he was almost certain that there was just something about the Lansing family that he just didn't understand._

A glaring light cast across my eyes caused me to roll over, groaning at the unfortunate interruption to the much needed sleep.

It was only a moment before I supported myself on my elbow quickly, looking around the room through a think curtain of hair.

The last thing I'd remembered was speeding down highway one hundred and one in the back of a sleek Volvo. Had it all been a dream?

 _It seemed awfully real,_ I thought, shivering as I could almost feel the hands of those men raking down my body.

I sat up, eager to determine what had really happened the previous night.  
 _No, it couldn't have been a dream. We went dress shopping; we've been planning that for weeks._

But try as I might, I could just not recall even the foggiest of memories of a ride home in Jessica's Mercury.

 _So does that mean it was all real? The alleyway, the men, Jasper and Edward, the mindreading?_

I rubbed my temples, desperately trying to recall anything else from the previous night.

I leaned over to her bedside table, confused upon seeing my alarm clock. _Friday._ _Eleven thirty._ I should be well into the school day by now.

My thumbs flew over the keypad as I made a text out to Bella.

 _Was last night for real?_

Thinking for half a moment, I sent a second text for clarification.

 _Port Angeles?_

It was almost five minutes before Bella responded, her hurried message making my blood run cold.

 _Yes._

I ran a hand down my face, unable to comprehend the weight of the situation.

 _Edward Cullen can read minds. That- that sort of stuff just…doesn't happen._

I wrestled with the apparent reality of the situation, sitting crisscross atop the bed before realizing that I was in the same slightly damp clothes from the night before. My eyes were also caught on a certain leather jacket, many sizes too large for myself, hanging over my desk chair.

I stood on shaky legs before departing from my bedroom, eager to learn the exact events of the previous night.

Descending the stairs, I saw my mother sitting on the worn dusty blue couch, her eyes trained on the local news stories being broadcasted over the television, a steaming cup of tea clutched in her hands.

"Mom?" I called out, my voice hoarse.

She turned quickly in her seat, her hand flying over her chest in surprise.

"Diana! You scared me"

I crossed the living room in a few strides before she could stand up. "What happened last night?" I asked hesitantly.

She settled back into her seat, sighing and running a hand through her hair before responding. "I was hoping you could tell me that."

I sat down, giving her an expectant look and urging her to continue.

"Well, it came to be around your curfew and you weren't answering your phone, and your father and I just got so worried," She began, frowning at the memory.

"Eventually, after an hour or so, we heard a knock on the door. We thought the worst," She said, her tone quieting slightly. "We thought you'd gotten lost, or killed or…" She trailed off, her mind surely flying through the endless possibilities that could surely befall a young girl in a strange city.

I thought it best to not let her in on the fact that the worst of those thoughts had almost come true.

"Who was at the door?" I interrupted, not wanting her mind to be trapped in such a dark place for long.

She blinked, clearing her mind of the potential scenarios. "That boy who was here last month, Jasper."

I stiffened at this new installment to the story, nodding so that she'd continue.

"He was carrying you, the both of you were soaking wet. You were so limp that at first we'd thought…"

I felt the blood rush to my cheeks knowing that Jasper Hale had carried my sleeping self.

"What did he say happened?" I asked, not wanting her to think bad thoughts once again.

"He said that you and Bella had gotten lost, and that they'd just happened to find you."

 _So he lied._ I began to sort through all of his possible motives for lying. It was possible that he simply didn't want to worry my parents with the truth. But what if… _what if he's just hiding the strange circumstances? I mean, if Edward is apparently a mind reader, doesn't it only make sense that they would have other secrets?_

My mother interrupted my inner monologue, her eyes clouded with concern, her voice low and hesitant. "Ana…did he? Did he _hurt you?"_

My jaw slackened in disbelief. "No! God, Mom, no, Jasper would never…he would never do anything like that."

She nodded, some of the tension leaving her form. "Well I'm just glad that you're okay. We let you stay home today since you were just so exhausted."

I nodded, thankful that I'd have the day to gather my bearings.

"You have to be more careful going out, Diana." My mom said, her tone worried once more. "There's just been an animal attack at the logging company that your father works for. Thank God that it wasn't him," She said, trailing off as her eyes moved back to the television screen, where the words ' _Animal Attack_ ' were plastered in large letters just above the face of a man that I almost recognized.

I wracked my brain, looking for just where I recognized the balding middle aged man from.

I gasped audibly, my hand flying to cover my mouth as my mind made the connection. He was the man from the last nightmare that I'd had about the strange ballroom whose marble floors had been piled high with bodies.

My heart was hammering in my chest as I tried to reason with myself. But there was no way around it. I knew that that was the exact same face that had haunted me in my sleep.

"Are you okay, Ana?" My Mom asked quizzically, giving me a sidelong glance.

I nodded, standing on trembling legs. "Yeah, yeah I just have to go upstairs." I was surprised at the weakness of my own voice.

Though she seemed concerned, my mother nodded in agreement. "You go and get some rest."

I took a long steaming shower to chase away the chill that had come along with wet hair and the previous night's damp clothes. I took the time to go over the events of the past few days, desperately trying to file my hectic thoughts in a way that would make sense.

Firstly, there was something, though I wasn't sure what, that the Cullens were undeniably hiding. I had used up all possible excuses for the family, and it was time to face the truth that they weren't quite what they seemed to be.

Secondly, Edward Cullen could read minds. I had decided to put that thought on the back burner in my head, mostly since I was unable to even comprehend the fact.

Thirdly, there was some small piece of my nightmares, though I wasn't sure how consistent it really was, that held truth. I shivered at the visions of Jasper tearing my throat opened, hoping that it wasn't consistent at all.

As I wrung out my hair, I waged a mental battle against myself. The memory of the man's blank stare was lingering in my mind. I felt extremely guilty, wondering if I would have been able to prevent the man's premature death. I wasn't sure how the reality of an animal attack had tied in with my nightmare about Jasper, but it was concerning nonetheless. Try as I might, I found it difficult to accept that there was probably nothing I could have done to save the somewhat young man from the violent end he'd met.

I couldn't ignore the small, tiny voice in the back of my head. That quiet voice was insisting that the Cullens may have had something to do with the man's untimely demise.

I tried to silence the voice, not wanting to believe that some of the first friends I'd made upon arriving in Forks could do something so abhorrent.

Even though I'd seen Jasper do violent things in my nightmares, it was a whole other situation to believe he'd ever actually be so cruel. And what about Alice? Tiny Alice, who was arguably the sweetest girl to exist in the history of time? Or Dr. Cullen, the man who worked tirelessly to s _ave_ lives, not to snuff them out.

Whereas I'd never spoken to the large Cullen brother in calculus, he'd never seemed malicious to me. Even Edward, who I had only ever spoken to last night, did not seem like he'd relish in harming someone to me.

Now, Jasper's twin, on the other hand was a different story. With the icy glares she'd sent me on a daily basis, it wasn't as farfetched to think of her in that light. But murder? I wasn't so sure.

I decided that I had to call Bella. With innumerable thoughts bouncing through my mind, I needed to vent.

It had taken me awhile to convince my parents to let me visit Bella after her involvement in the previous night. I succeeded under the condition that I wasn't allowed to sleep over and that I would have to be driven to and from Bella's house by one of my parents, despite the fact that it was only a few minutes away.

My Dad grabbed my hand before I had the chance to leave the car. "You be careful now, alright?" He said his serious gaze boring into mine.

My Father had mostly closed himself off after my sister's death, making me miss the fun and affectionate man he had once been. He didn't neglect us in the slightest, though. My Father worked hard to provide for his family. Too hard, maybe. He had thrown himself into felling lumber after the accident. The only thing that he couldn't seem to provide us with was the man we'd once known. I suppose that he'd blamed himself for it, partly. Maybe he wished that he'd gone to pick me up from volleyball practice that day rather than sending her.

It was only through moments like this that you could see what the accident really put him through. He treated both Carter and I just as he did when we were toddlers. You'd think he'd realize that I was at least somewhat sturdy, after having survived two car accidents to date. 

"I will, Dad," I said quietly. "It's only Bella's house."

His eyes searched mine for half of a second, looking like he wanted to say more. I perked up for half a second, a part of me deep within myself hoping to see at least a fraction of the Father that I'd once been so close to.

His eyes flickered to the thick leather jacket I was wearing that we both knew wasn't mine. He didn't comment, as was expected.

The searching look he gave me diminished, though, as he let go of my hand and nodded. "Have fun, honey."

My jaw tensed as I slid out of the car, slinging my bag over my uninjured shoulder. I willed myself to not be upset as he drove away.

 _He just needs more time._

Sometimes I wondered how many years I could keep that excuse running for.

Pulling the leather jacket closer, I pushed that to the back of my mind as I knocked on the Swan's front door.

I had debated on wearing the Jacket that Jasper had supposedly left with me, wondering if it was at all creepy or stalkerish to put it on. I settled on doing so, though, for no real reason other than the fact that the thick leather combated the wind better than anything that I owned.

When the front door swung open to reveal Charlie Swan, I was taken aback by his slightly haggard appearance. His flannel lay slightly haphazardly over a white t-shirt, his brunette hair disheveled as if he hadn't gotten enough sleep the night before.

"Hello, Mr. Swan," I started, unsure of how to greet the seemingly troubled man.

"Hey, Diana," He responded, his voice rough. "You alright?"

It didn't take a genius to understand that he was referring to last night's fiasco.

I dipped my head in a nod. "Yeah, yeah. Thank you" I thought about asking about his own condition, but thought that it might be too intrusive.

"Dad?" A much higher voice called from the stairs. "Oh, hi, Ana."

Bella stood stop the staircase, her eyes flickering back and forth between Chief Swan and I, certain emotion that I didn't understand in them.

Mr. Swan stepped aside to make room for me in the doorway, and I shot him one last smile before ascending the stairs to meet Bella.

"Is your Dad okay?" I asked as I sat on Bella's bed. "Cute pajamas, by the way."

Bella's hand subconsciously ran over the flannel pajama bottoms as she answered. They were in stark contrast to my old oversized sweats.

"Thanks. And I'm not sure." She said, her tone troubled.

I furrowed a brow, urging her to continue.

"Well," she started, seeming to ponder the right way to put it. "It's a combination of last night and something else. One of his old buddies passed away last night. Animal attack."

I must have physically paled, because Bella seemed confused. "What's wrong?"

"That guy on the news, right?"

She nodded her puzzlement intact.

"If I told you that I'd seen him before, would you think that I'm crazy?"

She frowned. "No, why? I've seen him around town a couple of times."

I shook my head. "No, not like that. I saw him in one of my dreams," I started, hesitating before continuing. "Dead."

Bella's hand flew to her mouth, her eyes going wide. "Really?"

I nodded gravely, wringing my hands slightly. "It was his neck…it was torn open, like mine was in my other dreams."

Bella combed her fingers through her hair nervously. "What could that mean?"

"I have no idea," I admitted. "I've never seen anyone else identifiable in my dreams, either."

"I mean there's one common denominator," She said quietly, her voice trailing off.

"I know," I relinquished, knowing that she was referring to the fact that all of my dreams involved the Cullens, and namely Jasper. "But they were with us last night; they couldn't have been involved, could they?"

She shrugged her expression troubled. "I just don't know. I don't want to believe it, but I don't know what to think. The Cullens, the torn open throats, the cold ones I mean it almost sounds like…"

Her voice seemed to fail her, not wanting to be the one to say the word that was hanging dauntingly in the air.

"Vampires." I finished my voice impossibly small. The word seemed foreign on my tongue; as if there was no way that I could be using that word in a rational, real world explanation.

Bella seemed to panic slightly at the word, clamming up almost instantly.

"I mean that's-that's impossible," she said, blinking rapidly and making strange movements with her hands as she tried to come to terms with what I'd just said. "Vampires-they're not, they're not _real-"_ She stressed the word as if she were trying to convince us both.

I nodded in agreement, the whole situation seeming to be surreal once it was verbalized. "Maybe we're getting in over our heads," I said, tugging at a stray curl.

She sighed, rubbing her temples. "I think so. I mean, mind readers, and, and-"She trailed off rather than saying the word again, and I couldn't blame her. "There's just no way."

I nodded. Maybe we should just take a step back, at least for the weekend. Have a normal girl's night?"

Bella nodded, seeming appreciative at the suggestion. And that's just what we did. Bella and I spent the rest of the night watching the _Pride and Prejudice_ movie that had just come out, which Bella had been dying to see due to her firm commitment to all things Jane Austen. Other than that, we talked about normal things, strictly normal things that normal teenaged girls talked about.

It wasn't until it was time for me to leave did the conversation stray into anything even slightly serious. My phone had died, and despite Bella's insistence on either using her phone to call my Mother or letting her or Charlie drive me home, I was planning on simply walking the five or so minutes home.

"Are you sure, Ana? It's dark out." Bella said, her eyes worried as she peered out of the window.

"It's _getting_ dark out. The sun will last just long enough. That is, unless you keep me here any longer," I said teasingly.

"Oh, fine. But at least take this," Bella said, producing a small canister from her pajama pants pocket and pressing it into my hand.

"Pepper spray?" I asked, quirking a brow as I turned the bottle over in my hand.

She flushed slightly. "Charlie gave me one, and I asked for one for you, too. I figured you should have it for the animal…or whatever it is out there," She said the latter part in a hushed tone.

It was a sweet sentiment, so I leaned forward and squished her in a one armed hug.

"Thank you, Bells."

She smiled, nodding as she pulled back. "Wouldn't want my best friend getting eaten by a bear so soon" She joked.

I was taken aback by the term of endearment, but smiled brightly. I couldn't recall ever having a best friend before. Her statement caused certain warmth to bloom in my chest.

"Night, Bella."

It turned out that the sun had not been just enough to light the path home, but I wasn't too worried. I had gotten to know the way between Bella and I's houses by now, and was comfortable walking along the side of the road for the brief trek.

It was dark, but not concerningly so. I was still able to make out the general shapes of my nearby surroundings, and my house wasn't so far away now.

It wasn't until I heard a strange, unfamiliar rustle in the tree line that my confidence faltered. I hesitated, but kept walking nonetheless.

 _It's Washington. There are animals, just like there are in Vermont, Ana._

Rolling my eyes at myself, I resumed my walk home.

But when the same rustle sounded once more, closer to the tree line, I couldn't help but freeze. I could just make out my house's front porch light in the distance, only about seventy yards away.

Hearing animals in the woods had never given me this feeling before. This feeling that something was distinctly _wrong._

 _But there's no way that I could actually ever fight anything off, so shouldn't I just keep walking?_

I had made my mind up to do so, my sweaty palm clutching the pepper spray within my pocket, when a strange, inhuman growl cut through the silence.

 _Running. You need to keep running, Diana_. My inner voice didn't need to repeat itself. Though I desperately wanted to believe that I was just spooked from what Bella and I had discussed, it was a purely fight or flight instinct that took over. Flight won.

I fumbled with the keys after my mad dash to the colonial house; my breathing uneven as I wrenched the door opened and slammed it shut behind me, locking it quickly.

I felt a bit silly after looking up and meeting the eyes of each of my family members at the dinner table, regarding me with confusion.

"Ana" My Mom started her tone accusing. "You were supposed to call us to pick you up!"

I tried my best to get my words out evenly through my slight panting. "Phone died,"

"That's no excuse, Diana," My Dad said firmly. "Are you trying to tell me that there aren't any working phones at Chief Swan's house?" His jaw tensed in that way almost all father's jaws did when they were frustrated. "Just…just go to your room."

Though everyone else, including me, seemed to think that that demand was a bit overkill, I didn't need to be told twice. I didn't even want to be anywhere near the door.

I made sure that my window was securely locked before going to bed. Even though I had done my best to convince myself that I overreacted by sprinting like an out of practice Olympic runner to my front door, a small part of me still felt the need to lock everything.

I couldn't ignore the thought that went through my head as I peeked through the blinds into the dark night.

 _What the hell was out there?_

 **A/N: Make sure to review!**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Hello everyone! I'm sorry for the late update; things have been so hectic lately! I hope that you all are as excited for this chapter to be up as I am and that the wait hasn't been too long. I wanted to thank everyone who has followed, favorited and reviewed as well. All the feedback that the last chapter has gotten was heartwarming! Thank you to everyone and I hope you enjoy.**

 **Review from Arkytior's Song (Chapter 15) -** **I'm glad you enjoyed Jasper's POV! It seems like most readers really enjoy his perspective, so I'm going to try to incorporate it more often where I think it will fit well. Enjoy chapter 16 and thanks for reviewing!**

 **Review from laraceleste (Chapter 15) –** **Thank you very much! I have to say that I really love writing Bella, as I think she comes to life so much more with a strong friendship bond. I'm glad you like Jasper's POV so much; it seems to be crowd pleaser haha. Thanks so much for reviewing and enjoy!**

 **Review from JESUSLOVER19 (Chapter 14) -** **I love the name, haha. Thanks so much for your review! This is my first story so I wasn't at all confident with my writing before posting, but the positive reviews are so heartwarming so thank you so much! Enjoy chapter 16: )**

 **Review from guest (Chapter 15)-** **I also think that Jasper is a very protective person, so I can't wait to see how it will unfold as he and Diana grow closer and how it will affect them. And we'll see how her dreams change once she learns the truth, which is something I'm excited for as well. Thank you so much for reviewing, you have no idea how much I appreciate it. Enjoy this chapter!**

 **Review from midnightkat (Chapter 4) -** **Thank you for reviewing! Your feedback is very appreciated. The typos within this story bother me so much as the computer I write on has a completely busted screen so only about half of what I write is visible, lol. But I will certainly do another comb through the previously posted chapters to look for some typos, so thanks for bringing it to my attention. As for the contradictions, would you mind telling me a couple of them so I could go back and fix them a bit? I know that I just fixed one in chapter 9 regarding the accident and how long exactly Diana was unconscious after the car accident. But I completely agree about JasperxAlice or Bella stories. I can't get into them as much as I can Jasper x OC stories. Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Review from midnightkat (Chapter 9) -** **Hello again! Thanks for enjoying! I'm glad you like how the story is developing. Enjoy this chapter!**

 **Review from Nonny~nonny (Chapter 15) -** **Haha I'm glad that the walking home scene and the dreams were as suspenseful as intended! You'll just have to wait and see, lol. And thank you so much for your compliments! I am a student, so sometimes it's difficult to stick to a solid update routine, haha. I'm so glad that people understand that sometimes ideas just don't flow for a while and writing takes some time. Thanks so much for reviewing and enjoy!**

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 **Review from Guest (Chapter 15) -** **I'm glad you like my take on the twilight franchise! Thanks for reading and reviewing, I hope you enjoy chapter 16!**

It had been weeks since the events that had occurred in that dark and dreary alley of Port Angeles. Two weeks to be exact. It had also been exactly two weeks since Jasper Hale and I had spoken. His complete one-eighty personality change had left me reeling to say the least.

The last time we had spoken over mushroom ravioli in _Bella Italia_ had been so long ago that if it weren't for Bella, I surely would've convinced myself that it was nothing but a foggy daydream.

I had so many buzzing questions for the flaxen-haired boy that my mind was heavily weighted with the unanswered inquiries. My grades had begun to suffer due to my inability to focus on anything that wasn't distinctly _Cullen_ and countless homework assignments had gone uncompleted since I so often favored thumbing through the pages of the book purchased at Thunderbird and Whale.

As hesitant as I was to even think it, every single story and account Bella and I had uncovered had all led us back to one certain word. _Vampire._

I couldn't even blame my mind for its fruitless attempt to backtrack every time I thought of the term. I had endlessly attempted to justify the Cullen's unearthly beauty, their uncommonly fair porcelain skin and even Jasper's strange aversion to eating.

I had even gone as far to consider some distant albino gene, or perhaps some brand of intense iron deficiency that they all happened to possess.

But the fact of the matter was that deep down I knew these excuses to be truly and plainly insufficient, even if I simply could not allow my conscious self to accept it.

One surprising thing that had come along with Jasper's silence over the past two weeks was deterioration in my mood. I had progressively become significantly more irritable and as each day passed my emotions almost seeming haywire as they rapidly changed.

The most notable emotion was definitely frustration, which had made itself very apparent when Bella had had to physically stop me from storming up to Jasper's twin, Rosalie, while she clearly displayed her almost unbridled joy at Jasper's recent distance in an insufferably pleased smirk. I had been surprised and concerned by how tempted I was to confront the girl, as I was never someone who enjoyed unnecessary conflict.

Regretfully, my sour mood of late had not been limited to wanting to avidly wanting to fight Rosalie Hale, but had also caused a bit of tension at home when I had snapped at my mother for mentioning my slipping grades.

To put it simply, Jasper Hale was causing a lot of problems for me.

Bella had also been similarly shunned by Edward, their interactions in biology having become much rarer than they had once been before Port Angeles. I was envious of her in that she at least got some sort of recognition from him.

I had completely lost contact with Jasper ever since the morning after the Port Angeles trip. The Monday afterwards, I had tried to approach him numerous times, but was thoroughly baffled when met with only a regretful look followed by his retreating back

Each day followed the same horribly tedious pattern. He would be a no show in the early morning, likely in an attempt to avoid any sort of confrontation with me at a time where I could get him alone in the parking lot.

Even during history, he would oftentimes arrive late and take his seat beside me without so much as a greeting. The period was usually riddled with a few odd, distant stares, but each time I had even attempted to engage him in conversation, even those stopped for the day.

Earlier in the week, I had attempted to wait outside of the classroom until the bell to surely catch him on his way in, but it was almost as if Jasper had some sort of incredible foresight and sensed this as he ended up skipping class that day.

A certain sort of pettiness had come over me in the past few days, resulting in me trying to play a similar cold shoulder game. It was harder than I thought to not even glance in his direction during Mr. Jefferson's lectures.

I had even been surprised by how badly I longed for our walks across campus to the cafeteria, not having realized how much I even enjoyed them in the first place.

Try as I might, I could not even get Alice to slip about why exactly Jasper had been ignoring me, which was extremely surprising due to her talkative nature. She certainly wasn't ignorant to my fruitless attempts, but hurriedly changed the subject from the boy whenever I got around to the topic. I was extremely grateful that Alice hadn't shut me out, but I still wished that she would be at least a bit more helpful in my plight.

It was all incessantly frustrating, and as I sat at the small circular lunch table with my friends, dejectedly forking through a salad as I tried to quell the sort of rejection felt in my chest.

I couldn't help but wonder if the events at Port Angeles were really to blame for Jasper's distance. Had I annoyingly clung onto the him? Had his friendship really just been an attempt to welcome me into the school before reforming to friendly acquaintances? I blanched as I considered another thought. Maybe he had sensed that I might have foolishly begun to consider him as more than a friend and run off in response.

I bristled at the thought. It isn't like that on my end, anyways, I convinced myself. Or at least I tried to.

I decided that I had had enough. I was ridiculously tired of staring at my bedroom ceiling and coming up with countless scenarios in which I could possibly approach Jasper. If I couldn't talk to Jasper, I had decided, maybe I could force somebody else to listen to me.

I tried my best to concentrate and tune out Mike and Tyler's chatter about the previous night's game.

 _Edward._

I wasn't sure if I was going about this the right way, but figured I could at least try. I had accepted the impossible fact that the bronze-haired boy could tap into the minds around him some time last week. It had been a shocking revelation on his part, but I figured that if my suspicion about the family was true, mind reading wouldn't be the most absurd part about any of them.

He stiffened. He seemed to be almost too focused on the soggy cafeteria pizza in front of him. I tried to keep any thoughts of ' _is this actually working?'_ at bay, not wanting to get my message to him jumbled amongst other thoughts.

I was sure that he could almost feel my eyes boring into the side of his chiseled face.

 _I know you can hear me._

Nothing.

I furrowed my brow, tapping my nails upon the linoleum surface of the table.

 _Make him talk to me._

It sounded like a childish statement, but I couldn't help it. The separation from Jasper left a weight in my stomach. I hadn't even realized how much I enjoyed his companionship when I had had the chance to revel in it. The entire separation forced me to consider a question that I had been thoroughly avoiding. Did a part of me yearn for something more than Jasper's friendship?

I couldn't help that my eyes jumped to Jasper's form. I couldn't help but wonder if I'd simply imagined seeing a pair of amber eyes connect with mine through a curtain of his golden waves before they flicked downwards as if being caught doing something they weren't quite supposed to be doing.

A jump in my gut brought a certain heat to my cheeks. I tried my very best to push that feeling and the descriptive thoughts that came along with it away. Not only did I not quite want to consider it, but I certainly didn't want Edward to hear such musings.

I looked back to Edward, who didn't seem to even consider acknowledging me. I gnawed on my inner lip, glancing at Bella quickly as I decided to hit him where it would hurt, if only slightly.

 _At least talk to her._

His shoulders stiffened, if it was even possible for his form to become more rigid than was normal for him.

He got up quickly, flinging his barely touched lunch in a nearby trashcan as he stormed from the cafeteria. Even his siblings seemed to be shaken at his quick departure.

 _Coward,_ I thought after him, hoping that he'd be able to hear me from the increased distance.

The shrill ring of the bell that signified the end of our lunch period tolled shortly after. I was slightly dejected that my attempts to communicate with Edward had not been more successful.

Later that day, I was lost in thought as Bella and I walked to ninth period gym class, my mind buzzing with ideas on how to bridge the gap between Jasper and I. I was interrupted by Bella's voice, surprised at its heatedness.

"That's it. I can't take it anymore."

I turned my head, quirking a brow at my friend, urging her to continue.

"If he doesn't want to talk to me, than that's just too bad. I'm going to confront him."

I couldn't help but let out a small smile, shaken at her firmness. "Now?"

I asked this dubiously, casting a glance over at our gym teacher. "Coach Clapp will never let you skip"

She seemed to be prepared for this question, countering me quickly. "Well, I'll stay for a while," She started, talking rapidly as her plan seemed to fall into place. "And then I'll ask to go to the bathroom."

"And when you don't come back for the rest of class?"

"You'll cover for me?" She asked her eyes hopeful.

I pursed my lips, not eager to risk getting into trouble. It was a little difficult to refuse, though, with Bella's large chocolate brown eyes glistening with excitement.

I sighed. "How will you even know where he is?"

"He once told me that he always likes to listen to music in his car this period"

I almost cursed at Edward's consistency. I took a moment to consider before my shoulders sagged in defeat.

"Fine," I muttered against my better judgement.

Bella smiled brightly, bouncing on her toes in excitement. "I owe you one,"

I chuckled. "You owe me about ten favors by now."

She rolled her eyes as we walked into the girl's locker room.

"One, ten, it's all relative."

I hushed my voice as I put my backpack down on the bench beside Bella's locker, not wanting any of our classmates to overhear.

"Bella, what if he's dangerous? I don't know if you should be alone with him."

She seemed to think for a moment before waving her hand dismissively. "We've been alone before. If he wanted to hurt me, why wouldn't he have done it then?"

Try as I might, I couldn't quite answer. "Well, I don't know. But how will I know that you're okay?"

She shrugged as she pulled her gym uniform on. "I doubt it'll take very long. I'll be back about twenty minutes after class at the latest. Wait for me by the truck?"

I nodded. "I'll send a search party if you're late."

Bella laughed slightly. "I'll be counting on it."

Surprisingly, Bella's plan had gone seamlessly. That was, of course, until Coach Clapp's booming voice called across the gymnasium.

"Where's Swan?" He asked, his eyes scanning the volleyball court for her. He must have noticed the lack of injuries and haywire volleyballs and noticed that she'd never returned.

"She's in the bathroom, sir," I lied easily enough from my seat on the bleachers. I knew that he never paid much attention to those injured and unable to play and wouldn't notice that I'd never left my seat.

"Still?" He asked, his tone harsh. "What the hell for?"

I marveled at a moment at how easily the vein in his jugular stuck out whenever he yelled before answering.

I hesitated, toying with a curl as I sorted through an appropriate excuse. "She's having…girl troubles."

I could tell that my voice seemed unsure at that poorly orchestrated excuse. Coach Clapp didn't seem to notice, however, as his face took on a hue that was redder than normal, muttering something incomprehensive.

I chuckled as I settled back into my spot on the bleachers, knowing that Bella wouldn't approve of the excuse that I came up with.

After gym, I stayed true to my agreement with Bella, sitting atop the truck's tailgate. I read one of my favorite chapters from _Gone with the wind_ while I waited; the novel perched atop my crossed legs.

Before long, I found myself tracing my index finger along the blotched ink and patterns made by the water damage from the day of Bella and I's accident, remembering how thoughtful I had thought it was for Jasper to return the volume.

I couldn't help but scoff at the memory, thinking myself incredibly foolish now that I knew how easy it was for Jasper to ignore my existence. Part of me wondered if he'd ever actually intended for our friendship to last in the first place.

I was frustrated at how my heart constricted, almost bringing a lump to my throat. It was even more surprising than frustrating, really. Not one person would describe me as an overly emotional person, and much less someone who was oftentimes prone to tears. I pushed the emotion back, wondering when and how I had even grown so attached to the boy.

I tore my eyes away from the book, rather preferring to look at the now thinning parking lot. I had noticed already that neither Bella nor Edward were with his Volvo, and had just begun to be concerned about where exactly they were.

My scan of the parking lot revealed that the pair hadn't returned to the sleek car, but that a different group had gathered around it.

All of the Cullen siblings, excluding Edward, were circled in a desolate parking space a few rows down from where Bella's truck was parked. Jasper was leaning against the Volvo, seeming to be more of a spectator to the conversation than a participant, though he seemed to allow the occasional interruption or nod.

His impossibly lovely twin was tucked beneath the beefy arm of the boy with dark ringlets from calculus. Alice, though she had been chatting with the trio animatedly just moments before, now had an odd, glazed over look about her as she looked into the distance.

I had noticed the girl behave such a way a few times, but they had been over with so quickly that I'd never intruded and questioned her about them. I would normally have been concerned for the girl, but figured that her siblings would have more of a reaction if she was in any danger.

I couldn't help but return my gaze to Jasper, an involuntary sigh escaping me. My heart jumped to my throat when his auburn eyes met mine for a moment, and I couldn't help a certain hopefulness bubbling up in my chest, part of me praying that he might break the silence that that I had been drowning in for the past two weeks. All too soon, he tore his eyes from mine and returned his attention back towards his siblings.

I was somewhat taken aback when I felt a pang of anger in my chest. If he really didn't want to be friends, there wasn't quite anything I could do about that. But I thought that I did at least deserve an explanation.

Fueled by my renewed frustration, I hopped off of my spot on Bella's truck before I had really even registered my resolve.

Just then, Alice seemed to snap out of her odd trance, her eyes wide and bright with uninhibited excitement. She met my gaze, a large smile gracing her features.

I was a little staggered at this, pausing before taking a step forward. Much to my confusion, the small girl simply gave me a sly wink before bouncing on her toes and regarding her siblings. Her mouth moved insanely quick as she mainly addressed her sister and larger brother, ushering them into the family's Volvo.

Jasper seemed somewhat dumbfounded at the speed of the situation, especially as Alice climbed into the driver's seat and sped out without any further explanation.

The boy hardly had time to regain his posture as my determination solidified while I approached him with a renewed vigor, my frustration fully intact. Even though I was extremely frustrated with him, that feeling shrunk in comparison to the worry I felt for Bella. She was now about twenty minutes late to meeting me at her truck. Even though I knew Edward had protected her from harm in the past, I did not fully trust him with her.

"Jasper," I called out when I was about ten paces from him.

His eyes widened before frantically flying around as if looking for a way to escape the scenario he found himself.

"Don't even try it," I warned, my voice stronger than I knew was possible. "Where's Bella?"

He seemed shaken at my tone, but didn't comment on it. "I don't know," He replied. Shouldn't she be with you?"

I furrowed my brow, trying my hardest to tell if he was telling the truth. If the Cullens had so many secrets, would it really be so farfetched to believe that Jasper might be dishonest?

"Is that a lie?" I asked, my tone accusing.

He blinked rapidly, his pink lips parting slightly in surprise. "What? No-"

I couldn't help but ask my next question, one that had been crowding my brain for weeks. "What about when you told me that you actually wanted to be friends? Was that a lie?"

For once, Jasper seemed to be the one at a loss for words and seemed to stiffen. "What? Diana, you know that that's not true."

"How do I know that? First, you leave me with billions of questions and then you just shut me out."

"I haven't shut you out-"Jasper began, his tone weak, almost as if he knew that he was wrong.

"We haven't spoken in two weeks!" I exclaimed, flinging my arms out in emphasis. "What would you call that if not shutting me out?"

Jasper sighed, one sculpted hand reaching up and massaging his pronounced temples. "Diana, there are things that you just don't understand-"

I crossed my arms, not able to help how my voice shook when I responded to him. "Then help me understand! The only thing I don't understand is why you have to hide things from me"

I ran a hand through my hair in frustration before continuing, not letting him get a word in edgewise. "Whatever you're not telling me can't be worse than this. The past two weeks have been…terrible."

A certain recognition lit up his golden eyes, but he seemed to bury the emotion before it could become too prevalent.

"That's not true. You wouldn't…You wouldn't see me the same way if I told you."

"You don't know that!" I said, much louder than intended. It was only now that the both of us seemed to notice how the few students still straggling in the parking lot had their heads turned in our direction, drinking up the intensity of the confrontation.

"Can we talk somewhere else? Alone?" I asked, my tone much quieter than before. "Please, Jasper."

As his eyes searched mine, I could see how desperately he wanted to refuse. But to my surprise, he didn't. With a simple nod of his head, Jasper turned in the opposite direction and began to walk.

I took it as my cue to follow, trailing behind the boy as he led us up the incline beside Forks High school.

At first, I thought that we were headed for the tree under which we'd once shared lunch. When we passed its thick trunk, though, all suspicions of that were diminished.

I struggled to keep up with his much longer strides, thankful I'd worn my rain boots when we'd started to trek into the damp overgrown grass just before the tree line.

I'd almost expected Jasper to stop at the dense tree line, which was a clear border between safety and the unknown. I hesitated before following his retreating back.

It was almost symbolic in a way. If I were to follow Jasper into the forest and receive the validation that I so badly yearned for, there would almost certainly be no going back. If I turned around and simply went back to the safety of Bella's truck, I would always be left wondering.

My internal debate must have taken longer than I had thought, because when I looked up, Jasper was standing within the brush, peering at me inquisitively. I could see in his eyes that he was allowing me to turn back if I wished, hoping for it, even.

 _I'm sure he'd like that._

I squared my shoulders, strengthening my resolve and stepped into the woods.

We had walked for about twenty minutes before I was almost fully convinced that he'd led us in a huge circle. I was just about to call him out on this when he stopped, turning to face me.

"I suppose that this is as good a place as any"

I stood in front of him, finding it difficult to pick only one out of all of the questions that had been tormenting me.

"Why have you been avoiding me?" The question I almost involuntarily asked was probably one of the more inconsequential ones, but I couldn't help but ask.

He furrowed a brow, pursing his lips slightly before speaking. "Give me another question"

"That's the easiest out of all of them"

I couldn't be sure how many minutes had passed before he responded, his voice strained. "It's not…good, for me to be around you" A half a second passed. "Not that I don't want to be, mind you," He added, giving me a pointed look.

"If you want to be around me, than why won't you be?"

He ran a perfect hand through his flaxen locks. "To be clearer, _you_ shouldn't be around _me._ But it's not that simple. I really shouldn't even let you be anywhere near me, but I allow it anyways."

I quirked a brow. "Who's to say that you could stop me from being near you if I really wanted to be?"

He let out a humorless laugh. "Diana, if I were stronger, better, you wouldn't even know that I exist. It would be a much better option for you, really."

I bristled at his statement. "How do you know what my best options are?"

"I know what happens to people like you who are around people like me"

"I don't understand," I began, my voice quiet as I tried to understand the meaning behind his words.

"You're _good,_ Diana. I've seen it. Edward's heard it. Naturally, you're inherently good. Untouched, even. Now, if you knew about me…the sort of person I really am, you'd be disgusted. In fact, I'd wager that you wouldn't be able to stomach another conversation with me."

"You're wrong," I said, my voice firm and certain. "I don't believe that."

"Of course you don't," He muttered, putting his hands on his hips and hanging his head. "Next question."

I hesitated, my heart pounding in my own ears as I instantly knew what needed to be brought to light.

"It's not so much as a question as much as a statement," I said.

He almost seemed to know what was coming, turning his head and focusing on nothing in particular on the nearby ground, his jaw tensed.

"I know…I know that you're _different."_

He let out a puff of air, almost like a laugh without joy as his hand clasped around his sharp jaw. He didn't speak, but rather waited for me to continue.

"I've spoken to people. Read books. Researched legends."

I took a half a step closer, almost as if approaching a frightened animal. Each word seemed to pain him, and he looked as if there was nothing he'd rather do than bolt away from me.

"I've tried to consider everything. Food allergies, vitamin deficiencies. But I come back to one word every time."

He said nothing, but rather seemed to wait for me to deliver the final blow. I hesitated before speaking, the term on the tip of the tongue, almost daring me to speak it into existence.

" _Vampire."_ I heard the way my voice tremored slightly, felt it hardly pass my lips in its silence

The task of speaking seemed almost too monumental to him at that moment, as he simply seemed to fix his jaw, a strong hand reaching up and clasping itself over the lower portion of his face in a sort of suppressive distress.

I took his silence and lack of denial as all the affirmation that I really needed. A pang of shock shot through my chest. Despite all of my musings, there was something about Jasper's actual affirmation of my theories that made it all the more real.

Just as I registered my own emotions, Jasper seemed to become even more tense, striding over to the nearest thick tree trunk and leaning against it with his hand, his features more troubled than I had ever seen them before.

I was surprised at the sort of distress I felt upon seeing him so bent out of shape, and quickly tried to mend the situation.

"Jasper, I-"

I wasn't even sure what to say. A part of my mind was trying to convince me that this was all fictitious, that it was all only another dream and that I was actually safely asleep in bed.

I wasn't even sure what to _think._ I had stopped believing in vampires when I was around ten years old. And to now say that it was all true? If it weren't for the frightening realism of the situation, I would have thought that Jasper was simply pulling my leg.

I certainly didn't think that Jasper was a bad person regardless, but there was no way for me to actually be certain. If he had been able to hide the fact that he was a vampire of all things, what else could he be hiding?

As much as I wanted to tell him that I didn't care what he was, it would be a definite lie to say that it didn't matter at all- that would be ludicrous. But even though I knew I should definitely be afraid, I somehow wasn't as fearful as I knew I ought to be.

He let out a strange sort of groan, pressing his forehead to the bark of the tree.

"No, no you don't understand. You're not supposed to be near me. Your judgement is completely wrong, Diana. Don't you understand? Everything about me is specifically designed to draw you in." He almost sounded as if he were going to be sick, especially as he spoke once more. "You weren't supposed to know yet _."_

"I don't know what you mean by that," I started cautiously, my feet firmly rooted to their place on the damp ground. A part of me yearned to bridge the distance between us, to comfort him. The more rational part of me, the piece that was responsible for self-preservation, forbade it.

"Not only am I a literal predator to you, but there's so much more that you just don't understand yet-"

As his frustration grew, a strange crackling noise filled the air around us. I was confused for a moment until realizing its source, my eyes widening as I watched the wood of the tree trunk on which Jasper supported himself splinter beneath his pale hands.

I couldn't help the spike of fear that entered my chest as I saw how easily the tree gave way beneath his grasp.

Jasper seemed to almost sense my fear, his eyes snapping to mine before realizing where my gaze was directed. He quickly took his hands off of the tree, almost as if it had burned him. He held his hands palm up, as if he were trying to calm me like a flighty animal while he shook his head rapidly.

"No, no, don't be afraid-"

I couldn't help the involuntary half step I took backwards, feeling my heart hammer in my chest.

He shoved his hands deep into his pockets in a display of disarmament.

"I would never, ever mean to harm you, Diana," He said, his eyes wide and voice almost pleading. "You must believe that."

I tried to rationalize what he was saying. There must have been some element of truth to it, I decided. If Jasper had really wanted to harm me, he had had ample opportunity to many times before.

I nodded slowly, still transfixed by the damage the tree had sustained. "I'm sorry; I just hadn't realized that you…could do that." My voice was small due to a mix of wonderment and intimidation.

He chuckled. "I scare you out of your wits and you apologize to me?"

I shook my head, my wide eyes finding his. "I'm not…scared. Not as much as I should be, at least."

Jasper sighed. "That's exactly the problem."

"What do you mean by that?" I asked, thoroughly confused by whatever he'd been alluding to for the entirety of our conversation.

He shook his head. "One revelation at a time, please?"

I pursed my lips, considering. "Only if you promise to tell me another time."

He nodded his lips quirking into a sort of grim half smile. "Promise."

I was almost convinced that my frantic heartbeat was loud enough to echo out of my chest as he seemed to realize that some natural fear still coursed through me.

"I'll stay over here, and you can stay over there, if you'd like." He said, taking a seat on the ground beneath the tree he'd mangled only moments before. I wasn't sure if I was imagining the sound of regret in his voice as he spoke.

I nodded slightly, taking my own seat adjacent to his a few feet away. I figured that I owed myself some time to adapt before being so close to him again.

"I'm sure you have questions."

"Will you answer any of them?" I countered, quirking a brow in a sort of challenge.

His lips upturned more genuinely at that. "Depends. We'll only know if you ask though, won't we?"

His joking demeanor put me at ease, if only slightly. It served as a sort of reminded that Jasper still seemed to be Jasper regardless of what he was.

I took a deep breath, trying to sort through the millions of questions I had for him. I paled as one stood out.

"Can you read minds, too?" The prospect was terrifying. Not only would he be able to hear the innumerable and doubtlessly idiotic questions running through my head, but he would also almost certainly have heard my internal monologues about both how attractive he was and my questioning of my true feelings, as well.

"Nope. That's purely Edward."

My shoulders physically sagged in relief. Jasper's brows shot up at this, one of his signature smirks gracing his face. My heart tremored at that smirk that had been absent from my life for two whole weeks. Had the distance even further strengthened the effect that the blonde had on me?

"You're relieved? What do you have to hide up there?" He asked, gesturing to my head.

"None of your business," I replied quickly, praying that my face hadn't flushed.

He made some brand of displeased sound, flicking his hand in a way that was meant to usher in my next question.

I thought for a moment, trying to ignore the chill that ran through me as the groundwater soaked through my jeans.

"Your family. Are they all…?" I trailed off at the end of my sentence, my mind moving to Alice. I couldn't imagine her tiny frame being able to do anything even similar than what I'd seen Jasper do to the tree which he now sat under.

He nodded, keeping his eyes tethered to mine, trying to gauge my reaction. I did my best to keep my response as neutral as possible.

"And can they all do things like that?" I asked, nodding up to the significant dents he'd made in the pine.

"And more," He responded, mimicking my own crisscrossed legs.

I blinked in surprise, taking the time to study the damage once more in wonderment.

Eventually, I was unable to avoid the question I had been so diligently avoiding. I couldn't help but allow my fingers to reach up and ghost over the sensitive skin of my neck.

"Are you going to…? Kill me?"

I had never seen Jasper Hale genuinely shocked before until that moment, his eyes widening in a way that would be almost comical in other circumstances.

"No." He answered firmly before seeming to even consider elaborating on the statement. "I could never do that to you. Never." The finality in his tone surprised me.

"Have you ever _wanted_ to?"

His brow furrowed and his jaw set as he downcast his eyes, a hand reaching up to rub his temples.

"That's…a difficult question, Diana." He sighed. "Do you want the truth?"

I nodded, trying to remain cool on the outside as if we weren't casually discussing my potential death.

"I don't know. I can't control myself like the others can. To put it simply, I always want to… _eat."_

I could tell that he'd had the consideration to alter his word choice as to not frighten me further.

"But you?" He continued, looking at me meaningfully. "Even if I _did_ want to, I just couldn't"

As desperately as I wanted him to elaborate on what was keeping me safe from his appetite, I could tell how he was straining to answer the current question and moved on to a different, more pressing inquiry.

"You keep specifying. _Me._ Other people, you hurt them?" My voice shook slightly, in part due to the scenes of him slaughtering masses of people, and myself, that I'd endured in the past. It seemed that my dreams had had a certain truth to them, which was terrifying to say the least.

He sighed, his broad shoulders tense with the weight of my question.

"I'm not going to lie to you, Diana. I have… _hurt_ people before. A lot of people. And it's very hard for me to not. But I'm trying."

I got the feeling that there was a lot more to his explanation than he was ready to tell me.

"If you're trying to not hurt anyone, how do you all survive?" I asked, tilting my head to the side slightly in confusion.

"We're vegetarians," He said, the air of humor in his voice. "Well, not by the term's genuine definition. We hunt animals only."

I couldn't help but crack a small smile with the knowledge that people were largely safe from the Cullens.

"So I'm safe with you, then?" I wasn't sure if it was even a statement or a question.

He chuckled humorously once more. "It depends on how you look at it. On one hand, you've decided to hang around the most unstable one in the family. But on the other hand, I wouldn't be able to hurt you." He seemed to think for a moment before speaking again, a bit of amusement in his eyes.

"You're probably safer with me than you would be with Rosalie, though. I'm not sure that she'd have much of a hard time with it."

Even though he was referencing the ease with which his sister could definitely do away with me, the humor in his voice calmed me.

"I'll stick with you and Alice then."

He nodded. "She'd keep you safe as well, for sure."

My heart warmed slightly to know that Jasper wasn't the only one in the Cullen family keen on keeping me alive.

I thought for a moment, drawing my knees up to my chest. "If you were really going to hurt me, you've had plenty of chances to do it before."

He nodded pensively. "Yeah, I suppose that I have."

"So by that logic, I'm safe with you, aren't I?"

He chuckled as he regarded me. "If only slightly."

I wasn't sure what exactly came over me, if it was the easy flow of our banter or some underlying faith in him, but I rose from my spot on the ground, nullifying the distance between us with sure, steady footsteps.

He considered me with curiosity as I sat down beside him beneath the large pine.

"You really shouldn't be so close to me, you know. It isn't safe." His tone was chastising, but not entirely disapproving, either.

"Do you want me to be scared of you or not?" I asked, nudging his shoulder with mine slightly.

He smiled, his perfectly white teeth flashing out from behind his lips. "I'm not sure which is in your best interest yet."

I decided not to respond, only smiling back instead. For a while, neither of us spoke, but rather sat in a companionable silence as a delicate wind churned the treetops above us. It wasn't long, however, until my curiosity resurfaced.

"You said that there were other things that you could do, didn't you?"

He hummed in affirmation, his beautifully colored eyes still trained on the slivers of the sky that were visible through the canopy.

"Well, like what?"

'Lots of things," He answered simply, his gaze not moving. The slight quirk to his mouth cued me in on the fact that he was being intentionally difficult.

" _Examples."_ I stressed, debating if hitting a vampire upside the head was in safe practice.

He thought for a moment. "Well, we're very fast, among other things."

"Like high school track star fast or Usain Bolt fast?"

He made a face, finally tearing his eyes away from the sky. "Who?"

I returned his stare with a blank one. "The fastest man in the world?"

He hummed as if it were new information to him. "You'll find that it can get harder and harder to keep up with those things as time passes."

I had half the mind to ask him how many years he'd seen pass exactly, but hesitated. Would that be rude, like asking a woman her age? Before I could really decide, he was continuing.

"Faster."

I whistled slightly, trying to come up with another comparison.

"Faster than, say, a cheetah?"

He chuckled. "Well, personally, I've never raced a cheetah, but I'd have to wager that we're faster."

"No way."

He looked over at me, amused. "You don't believe me? Well, I'd prove it but I wouldn't want to frighten you."

I perked up, eager to understand the limits and boundaries of vampirism. "I won't be afraid, really."

"Promise?"

I rolled my eyes at the way that he'd stolen the words I'd spoken before. "Yes, I promise-"

I abruptly stopped speaking when I realized I wasn't talking to anyone. The spot where he'd once sat was now abandoned.

A faint rustle sounded a good distance away, causing me to stiffen in slight fear. It all seemed a little too similar to one of the many nightmares I'd had about him.

"Well, as long as you promised," rang Jasper's voice from the side of me opposite to where he'd previously sat.

I gasped, a hand flying to my chest as I muttered a good many expletives.

"Faster than a cheetah?" He asked, clearly finding my skittishness amusing after I'd challenged him.

I responded once my breathing had steadied. "I wouldn't know. I've never actually seen a cheetah before."

This elicited a small laugh from the boy beside me, which eased my nerves.

"I'm assuming that there's a lot more that I don't know?"

He nodded. "Much more. But I want you to understand, so that you can make a decision."

I quirked a brow as I regarded him. "A decision? On what?"

"On whether or not you'd like to be around me or not," He said matter of factly with a shrug of his shoulders. "If it's all too much for you, I would sweep myself from your life, if that's what you choose. But I want you to understand everything before that."

I was surprised by the intense twist that formed in my gut that formed at the mention of him up and leaving my life as if he'd never been a part of it. It was almost borderline nauseating.

"I think I already know what I'd choose," I said quickly, almost desperately.

He must have understood what I meant by that, because his eyes softened as they raked over my face. "See, you're good, whether you realize it or not."

He took that moment to brush a curl away from my face, returning it to my mass of hair which had now become significantly dampened by the misty rain that had started awhile back.

I started at his touch, my eyes finding his impossibly brilliantly toned ones. Was it my imagination, or had we never been this close before? My heart began to hammer in my chest for an entirely different reason than it had before.

Was I imagining his face steadily moving closer, or the way that the masculine scent that surrounded him enveloped me?

I couldn't help but let out a shaky breath, almost frozen in the moment. But at my slight movement, he seemed to freeze as well. His hand seeming to forlornly linger atop my hair as he trailed his hand down its length before letting it fall, tearing his eyes away from mine.

I felt the pang of rejection fall to my stomach like a heavy weight. I tried to convince myself that that wasn't exactly a fitting term. After all, he had been the one to reach out and become that much closer.

I focused on a point on the distant ground, gnawing on the inside of my lip and praying that my disappointment wasn't tangible.

A sudden laugh from Jasper pulled me from my thoughts. After the initial shock, I appreciate the way his bass tone rumbled up from his chest. I fixed him with a questioning look.

"Your friend isn't very pleased with me."

"Bella?" I asked, my interest piqued.

He nodded. "She's looking for you. And telling me off."

My brows drew together in confusion as I strained to make out Bella's voice amongst the sound of the forest, or her clumping, uncoordinated footsteps at the least.

"I don't hear anything."

He shook his head. "You wouldn't be able to. She's in the parking lot." His eyes were upturned, as if trying to make out distant sound. "Wait, no, she just entered the woods."

My jaw hung in disbelief. "You can _hear that?"_

He nodded. "Amongst other things. It might have been a little difficult to focus on her if she wasn't being so loud. Edward's trying to convince her that you're fine and very much alive but she's not having it."

I chuckled at Bella's stubbornness. It was a little heartwarming to know that she had the same concerns for me that I did for her, as her safety was the entire reason I'd confronted Jasper in the first place.

Jasper was suddenly standing in front of me, offering one of his hands to me.

"Come on, we'd better get you back to her."

I placed my right hand on his, our palms pressed against one another as he pulled me up. I was first stricken by how unbelievably frigid his skin was. It was like directly plunging your hand into a mass of snow. I barely had any time to think of that, though, as I was quickly propelled into his incredibly firm chest.

His pale, frigid hands quickly steadied me as he apologized quickly. "I'm sorry," He started, his eyes quickly surveying me for damage. "Like I said, I never really spend time with um, _people."_

He seemed to have chosen the word 'people' carefully, likely as to not make the whole conversation seem even more science fiction than it already did. To be fair, 'humans' would have been much more unsettling.

"So I'm not exactly sure of how…durable you are."

I snorted at his word choice. "Well, obviously not very," I said as I nodded to my sling.

He hummed, nodding. "That's actually helped me figure it out to a degree, since Edward did that. Albeit unintentionally."

I fixed him with an incredulous look. "Edward? How?"

"During that whole car accident fiasco," He began as we started to walk through the forest. He must have had some sort of route mapped out in his head, I figured due to the sureness of his steps.

"He caught you with a bit too much force."

"What? How ripped is he?"

Jasper let out a hearty laugh." It's not exactly like that. Our bodies are much different than yours."

He extended a hand as a sort of demonstration. I poked at it slightly, a slight trepidation within me as I wasn't sure what to expect. I had briefly made skin to skin contact with Jasper, but never under the specific premise of studying it.

He paused our walk as to make my inspection easier. As I ran my fingers over his palm, I was surprised by its chalky texture. It was smooth and not unpleasant, but noticeably different from the skin of anyone else I'd ever felt.

I marveled at the way his skin hardly dipped when I pushed down slightly. His hand was firm, and it was almost as if I were trying to test the solidity of a stone.

"You're like marble," I marveled, still running my fingers over the pale skin of his hand.

He simply nodded, and I noticed the way his eyes intently studied my reaction. "Does it frighten you?"

I shook my head. "I'd call it more interesting than scary."

I realized that my extended caress of his hand was probably verging on creepy, so I regretfully released it.

He spoke again as we continued walking. "So when Edward caught you, it was more or less like being thrown at a granite outcropping at great speed."

"I feel much less clumsy, then," I said, gesturing to my injured arm.

"How is that doing, by the way? Is it supposed to take this long?" The dubious look he shot at my sling made me chuckle.

"It's doing better. It's supposed to come off soon enough."

He hummed in interest, his eyebrows rising in surprise. "Already? Medicine has really come a long way, hasn't it?"

Now I wasn't sure of the exact history of how to heal collarbones, but I was relatively sure that it wasn't a very new advancement that collarbone fractures could heal in a few months. I was once again tempted to ask how long his life had been exactly.

Just when I had made my mind up to ask, he interrupted in an apologetic tone. "I'm sorry I wasn't fast enough that day, by the way."

Confused, I let him elaborate before interrupting.

"The day of the car accident. I was going to run to you myself, but Emmet had gotten a hold of me before I could. I suppose that it was a good thing, really, only because of the possibility of one of you getting a scrape and then…well, you know."

I nodded in understanding of his grim suggestion. More than unsettled by his allusion to what might have gone wrong, I was rather touched that not only did he have an aversion to harming me, but was also actively trying to keep my alive.

It was an almost basic sentiment, really, and it shouldn't have been very surprising that someone actively didn't want to hurt me, but I was moved that he wouldn't despite the fact that he was fully capable.

I smiled and waved a hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it. We're lucky that Edward's fast, aren't we?"

He nodded, grinning. "Very lucky indeed."

We didn't speak for a while before another question pushed its way to the forefront of my mind.

"You say that you find it hard to abstain from…people other than me. What about Bella? Do you want to hurt her?" The concern was tangible in my voice.

Jasper's lips downturned slightly, the question seeming to weigh on him slightly. Eventually, he sighed, his tone somewhat guilt ridden.

"I try my hardest to not. I usually just try not to breathe when she's around."

Though I was very committed to keeping Bella safe, I was floored by Jasper's latest revelation.

"Wait. You don't have to breathe?" I asked, my eyes wide.

He shook his head, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Not at all. We do prefer to, though. It's a hard habit to kick."

I squinted, realizing that a thin, silvery mist was expelling from only my nose. I marveled at his absence of breath, squinting in an effort to make out even the slightest exhalation.

He quirked a brow, amusement etched into his features.

"I'm not sure that you're supposed to be so fascinated as much as you are frightened."

I shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm not going to lie, I was afraid at first. But if you don't want to hurt me or anyone else for that matter, than you can't be so bad. Besides, I like Jasper with afflictions and all better than no Jasper."

He cast me a sideways glance, a warm smile on his lips. "I can't tell if you're incredibly kind or incredibly naïve."

I shrugged, crunching over falling twigs and leaves as we walked. "I couldn't tell you"

After walking for about ten more minutes or so, even my less ranged hearing began to pick up Bella's voice in the distance calling after me

"I'm fine, Bella!" I called, my hands cupped around my mouth to carry my voice further.

As my time alone with Jasper dwindled, I began to become more desperate for answers.

"There's so much more that I want to know," I said, my words coming out quickly. "Now that I understand more about you, could we maybe like…hang out or something? Like normal people?"

Jasper hummed as he looked off into the distance, seeming to consider my proposition. "Like normal people, huh? Well, I'm not sure how well I can fit into that archetype, but I can try my very best."

I chuckled, inordinately pleased that he'd accepted. "Is this weekend alright? It doesn't matter where we go or anything. I'd just like to learn more."

He nodded. "The weekend is fine. Am I going to regret agreeing to this interrogation, though?"

"Maybe. It's too late to take it back now, though."

Just as I said that, Bella's form popped through a line of trees. Clambered was a better word, really, especially with how she had to steady herself on a nearby pine.

A disgruntled looking Edward appeared moments after, rolling his eyes at her clumsiness. I could see that beneath that mocking attitude, however, he was definitely amused with the girl's incoordination.

"Ana!" She called, her relief tangible. "I was so worried."

I smiled, quickening my pace to reach her. "I was looking for you at first, actually. I got a little sidetracked, though."

Her eyes flashed over to Jasper, almost accusingly as if he'd lured me into the forest. "I see that."

The brothers greeted each other briefly before falling into step with the both of us as our trek back to the parking lot continued.

"So you guys really have just tricked people for years?" Bella asked, her tone surprised at the family's capability to avoid detection.

It was Edward who answered first. "Well, yes. Some people have caught on before, if not slightly. But even then, we'd usually just pack up and move somewhere new within the night. After that, they'd pretty much forget about their suspicions all together." He paused for a moment before speaking again. "I am curious, however, to know how you kept me from noticing that you figured it out."

It took me a minute to realize that he had to be referring to be, as he'd mentioned his inability to read Bella's thoughts. Personally, I attributed that to the fact that there probably wasn't a lot going on up there in Bella's head, anyways.

"Well, I just tried to think of anything else while you were around." I explained, shoving my hands into the pockets of my raincoat. "It was pretty hard, actually."

Edward nodded, his curiosity satisfied. He appeared to get lost in thought after my explanation, though, as he went silent.

"Does that mean that I'm not a bad liar anymore, Jasper?" I asked, noticing the boy's silence.

A glance towards his impossibly stiff figure told me that he was almost certainly holding his breath now that Bella was in attendance.

"Does that count as lying?" He asked, his voice coming out much more restrained without the process of inhalation.

"Lying by omission," I rationalized, shooting him a slightly self-righteous smirk, proud of myself for being able to keep my thoughts private from Edward for an entire two weeks.

After that, our small group largely fell into silence, each party not seeming to know what exactly to say to each other.

When we reached the parking lot, we all exchanged slightly awkward farewells, each duo piling into our respective cars.

On the way home, Bella and I could hardly speak fast enough to discuss all that we'd both been told. We figured that it didn't exactly count as revealing any secrets if they'd told us both. We hadn't learned much from each other, unfortunately, as each brother relayed almost the exact same information. Edward, however, had apparently explained the problem that sunlight caused vampires. When I asked for an elaboration on Bella's part, however, she was largely dumbstruck, instead quite ominously declaring that I would 'have to see for myself'.

That night was a sleepless one, as I was unable to drift away with the rapidly multiplying unanswered questions plaguing me.

More than anything else, though, I was plagued with thoughts not of vampirism itself, but of a certain fair faired boy with the condition, whose infectious smiles and tender moments had chased away all hopes of a peaceful sleep.

 **A/N: Wow guys! I hope almost 10k words wasn't overkill, haha. I was tempted to split this into two separate chapters, but I thought that would be just so cruel for such an important installment! The cat is finally out of the bag. You guys completely deserve such a long chapter after such a gap between updates, so I hope you enjoyed! Make sure to leave a review and tell me how you feel about chapter 16!**

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	17. Chapter 17

**A/N** **: Hello everyone! I hope you all enjoyed the last chapter. I hope the gap between chapters hasn't been too horrible. For those of you who haven't pieced it together, I'm actually in my junior year of high school and AP exams have really been draining, haha. On another note, I've officially experienced junior prom! Unfortunately, Edward nor Jasper were my date but I hope I'll be able to write the prom scene later in the story more accurately know that I've actually been to one, haha love seeing all of your speculations regarding how Jasper and Diana's story will unfold! A couple of you have posed some interesting questions and predictions that have run through my mind as well. I hope you all enjoy this chapter!**

 **Review from faithbarker90 (Chapter 16)-** **Haha thank you so much! I hope this chapter won't disappoint.**

 **Review from (Chapter 16** **) - Hello, thank you so much for your compliments! Thank you for enjoying the way that I write, it means a lot to me! And I thought it was important for Diana to be reasonably afraid of Jasper. In my mind, it was sort of unrealistic for Meyer to make Bella not care about the Cullens being Vampires at all. I hope you enjoy all the Jasper and Diana in this story.**

 **Review from musicluver246 (Chapter 16) –** **Thanks so much! Enjoy chapter 17!**

 **Review from Guest (chapter 16)-** **I'm glad you're liking this story! I hope that you'll enjoy some of Diana's questions being answered in chapter 17.**

 **Review from Sdflky558 (Chapter 16) -** **Hey! I'm actually relatively new to reading the twilight books and have not yet read life and death. However, I really enjoy that thought and think it would be very interesting to read. If a story like that were to be written, I would definitely be first in line to read it (Or even write something similar with your permission if this story were more developed, haha.) Enjoy chapter 17!**

**Review from burnthebook (Chapter 16)** **Thank you for reviewing! I totally understand, I'm a student as well and writing new chapters can certainly interfere with getting assignments done, haha. And it would totally not be awkward, but I'm rather flattered! I really hope you enjoy this chapter and those that will be arriving in the future.**

 **Review from TatianeGrimes (Chapter 16)** **– Thank you for reviewing! I am happy that my writing in English translates well into Portuguese and I am also very happy that I have readers across the globe, I never expected that! Thank you for enjoying Diana as well! I have been trying to make her different than Bella yet still compatible with her to make their friendship work. Thank you for your compliments!**

 **Review from I see you see (Chapter 16) -** **I agree that it is very unrealistic when OCs are not at all fearful of the Cullen family. And your curiosity is well placed, as this will be a very important thought especially if this story extends into something like** _ **New Moon**_ **after the events of** _ **Twilight**_ **. I think that it's important to consider how much Diana values family after the experience of losing some of hers and how that would affect the way she acts and thinks. We'll have to see as the story progresses, now won't we?**

 **Review from TheSunRiseGiraffe:** **Thank you for your review! I do plan on continuing, exams have really just taken up so much time that I would usually use for writing recently.**

Under the premise of a day with Jasper Hale, a day with his undivided attention and the promise of answers to the questions that had been toying with my consciousness since I'd met the boy.

I woke on that Saturday morning with an uncontrollable excitement for what was to come; the insatiable curiosity that so often led to sleepless nights and faraway days was so close to being satisfied that it was nearly maddening.

Beyond this yearning, there was another more delicate feeling that laced the edges of my mind and brushed along my thoughts, sending my heartbeat into a gentle yet somewhat inconsistent rhythm. There was no denying that the girlish excitement had made itself present within me without my consent. Even though I knew that this was under no circumstance a date, nor anything similar to it as a day with Jasper reviewing his vampirism would certainly not constitute as such.

Even though I thought that I had convinced myself that this meeting was strictly platonic and nothing more, I could not combat the way that I almost impulsively ran my fingers though my curls with fervor, pulling my hair all to one side in a more tamed style that I hoped would suit my face nicely. I also pulled on a sweater with a wider neckline that I had been told brought out my eyes in the past. I opted against perfume, wondering if that it would be overwhelming to Jasper with his heightened senses.

As I paced about my room watching the minutes tick by, I toyed with my ring finger nervously, briefly wondering if it was in bad judgement to leave my neck so exposed around a vampire, specifically one who so unabashedly advertised his own lack of self-control.

I chuckled at my own concern, reasoning that the whole neck-thing was probably a much overplayed stereotype. After all, many of the things that I'd learned about Jasper didn't quite match up with the way that I would have imagined vampires to be like.

When I heard the telltale sound of tires on gravel, my heartrate spiked and I was unable to quell the potent mixture of anxiety and excitement that had overtaken me as I bounded down the stairs, ready to greet not only the day, but Jasper Hale as well.

Jasper Hale somewhat regretted to agreeing to meeting Diana on that Saturday, his regret had made itself apparent in the wee hours of the morning as he watched the minutes tick by into hours, moving him closer and closer to the time at which they'd agreed to meet.

Time, in his one hundred and forty two years on this earth, had never been quite so painful. It may have been more bearable if he were allowed even a moment of sleep, just a fraction of a second in which his consciousness could fade away and he would no longer be a slave to all the 'what ifs' that mercilessly ran through his brain.

He even had the sort of audacity to feel somewhat _nervous._ The term just seemed odd to even think about. Since his life as a vampire, his life with the Cullens, more specifically, the only thing he was ever really worried about was a breach in the thread of self-control he still had.

The anxiety almost made him feel a little guilty. Even though he knew that Diana was his mate, a seventeen year old girl making him feel nervous made him feel a little grimy. He did of course know that Diana was plenty old and conscious enough to make her own decisions, and that there was certainly no way that he could control the fact that he was many years his senior. He did additionally remind himself that he had no intentions for this meeting, that it was strictly a platonic meeting between friends.

That reminder did somewhat go out the door, however, as he tried to remember the last time a woman had made him nervous as he drove across town to Diana's residence.

He had been with women, for a lack of a better term that would suit his aged and polite vocabulary, in the past. Those unions had been largely loveless, however. If he really raked through his memory, he was almost certain that there were cloudy recollections of summer days in which he'd arbitrarily chased after the girls in the local town throughout his teenaged years when he was blissfully unaware of the life he'd be thrust into, but those memories had been fogged over by the passage of time.

Then, of course, there had been Maria. Jasper's mouth twisted downwards in distaste as he remembered that period of his life. Even though he hadn't quite realized it at the time, he could now appreciate how extraordinarily naïve he was at that time. He had once thought that the nights they had spent together were a product of love. Hell, once he had even thought that she was his mate. It wasn't until he had felt a _true_ mate bond between two newborns that he realized how far from mates they truly were. If anything, the feeling of pure and utter love between soldiers in Maria and his armies that he could never experience himself had somehow made him even more bitter.

Where he had once convinced himself that there could never really be a mate for him, that there could never be someone who was created to truly and endlessly love him, he had used it as a sort of justification for his time spent with other women.

Now that he'd met Diana, however, all of that was different. The amount of regret he had for those passionless nights was stifling. He could only hope that she would be able to look past his history whenever she learned the truth of it. To put it simply, the moment Jasper had met his mate, all other women he'd once fancied paled in comparison. Even the best of nights spent of the company of his past fleeting lovers paled in comparison to even the slightest of acknowledgements from Diana.

He knew that she would have to learn of their bond at some point, but did not exactly relish in explaining it to her. On one hand, he would gain an inordinate amount of pleasure for her to simply understand that they were made for one another. Alternatively, he was sure that with her headstrong mentality, she may be a little resistant at the claim that they were destined for each other in a way despite the hesitant feelings he knew she held for him.

Jasper was somewhat taken aback when he was hit by a wall of anxiety and anticipation as he pulled into the Lansing family's driveway. He couldn't help but chuckle at it ever so slightly, somewhat pleased that he wasn't the only one in the party so out of sorts about their meeting.

His amusement was intact as he heard her bound down the stairs, almost stumbling down them at one point.

He was somewhat confused at the murmuring voices of Diana and her mother, specifically when he was only mainly able to make out the word _Alice._

As the house's large wooden door opened, he began to climb out of the driver's seat with the full intention of upholding his chivalrous reputation and helping her into the car, but was thoroughly denied when greeted with wide eyes and a desperate shaking of Diana's head as she quickened her pace to the passenger's side door.

Settling back into his seat, Jasper was shaken at her appearance. Where he was not inexperienced with women, he was still occasionally taken aback by the way women in this time period dressed. Diana was not dressed provocatively by any means, but the display of her pale shoulders resulted in a sort of modest allure. He couldn't help the way that his eyes trailed back and forth between her collarbones and the delicate curvature of her exposed neck.

He cleared his throat, screwing his eyes shut for a moment before re opening him. Where his thought process was surely that of a man rather than a monster in that moment, he still feared that a prolonged thought regarding the tender areas of her neck and shoulders may border too closely on the parts of himself he struggled to control.

Diana opened the passenger's side door before lowering herself in, filling the borrowed Volvo with her sweet scent. Where the girl's aroma did not necessarily make him go insane with thirst, he still reveled in it. HE considered himself blessed that he was hardly tempted by the girl, and even more blessed that his mate and singer had not overlapped into the same person as they had in Edward's case. He considered his brother extremely lucky for having the sort of self-control that he did to abstain from Bella in that sense.

With a deep, non-necessary breath, Jasper regained his composure, greeting the girl with a smile. "Hello," he started, nodding to her seatbelt.

She fastened the safety belt around herself with a subtle yet good natured roll of her eyes. "I was about to buckle it. And hello." She spared a glance to his chest before speaking again. "You're not wearing one, anyways."

Jasper chuckled as he pulled out of the driveway, hardly sparing a glance backwards. "I'm considerably less fragile than you, darlin'."

She was silent for a moment before opening her mouth slightly, a question on the tip of her tongue.

"Can't the questions wait until we at least arrive at our destination?"

"Do we have one?" Diana asked, quirking her brow.

"I'll figure one out as we go."

As he returned his eyes to the road, he did not miss the subtle way in which she straightened her clothes, nor the way that she quickly smoothed her hair down in his peripheral.

"Are you going to tell me why I wasn't allowed to get out of my own car?" He asked, a teasing glint in his eye.

"I'm pretty sure this is Edward's car, in technicality," She amended in a stiff tone, crossing her arms.

He chuckled, the dimple that so often made itself present in his cheek making itself present, softening the girl ever so slightly without her say in the matter.

"Fair point. But did you have to tell your mother that Alice was in the car rather than me?"

Her brows drew together, pinning the boy with an accusatory glance.

"You could hear that?" She returned her eyes to the road that wound through Forks wooded areas, which was most of Forks to be fair. "I forgot about the whole super hearing thing."

"All of our senses are like that. It's odd, actually. Being human is sort of like being blind, deaf, and maddeningly slow and never really realizing it."

She hesitated, trying to sort through the many questions that ran through her mind at his statement. He continued to speak before she could quite answer, however.

"You never answered my question"

"Well you wouldn't let me ask any,"

He smiled slightly at her challenging disposition. He found it quite amusing how she resisted the charms vampires ensnared humans with. Most people found it very difficult to not comply with almost everything said by the impossibly beautiful creatures, but Diana Lansing seemed to make it personal goal to deny Jasper even the simplest of requests.

"Isn't today almost strictly about asking me questions? I think I'm deserving of a few."

The brunette let out a huff at his reasoning. "Well, it's just much easier to explain a female friend picking you up than it is a male. They've also warmed up to Alice ever since she sent cookies despite never meeting her, anyways."

"I suppose that's true. Do I not get any points for literally delivering you to their doorstep?"

"Quite the opposite, really. I think it only heightened the suspicions."

Jasper thought pensively for a moment. "I suppose that if I were a father I'd have felt the same way."

Diana was struck with a thought for a moment at his response. "How old are you? I mean, are you old enough to be?"

She wasn't sure if she imagined the way in which he froze up, his hand gripping the steering wheel with a more firm pressure.

"Technically almost any matured teenager is old enough to be a father"

"I meant your numerical age"

"And once again, most teenagers can reproduce "

She pursed her lips as she regarded him. "I don't believe that you're actually a teenager for even a second, Jasper."

"And why's that?" He asked, his interest piqued.

"You act differently. And speak differently, as well. I don't think that a large amount of teenaged boys use words with multiple syllables in the first place."

"Well I'm physically nineteen years old."

Diana frowned, sidetracked for a moment. "Nineteen? I thought you were a junior."

He shook his head. "Senior, actually. Is it so concerning that I'm in my senior year when we've more or less confirmed that I shouldn't be in high school at all?"

"So you're not a teenager," Diana said, pointing out the hidden affirmation in his words.

"You're a regular Sherlock" Jasper drawled, his eyes rolling ever so slightly.

"Have you graduated before?" Diana asked, still trying her best to piece his age together.

Jasper smiled at her attempts, casting a look over to her overly focused features. "Too many times to count, actually."

"You aren't going to tell me your age, aren't you?"

He let out another chuckle. "Haven't you heard that it's rude to ask?"

"Why does it have to be so guarded?"

Jasper Hale considered not answering for a moment, but the earnest curiosity of the girl beside him made him reconsider.

"I'm not sure how eager you'd be to spend time with me any longer when you learned the truth about it."

Diana snorted. "Well you're wrong about that. And besides, I don't think you've progressed mentally past the age of nineteen, anyways."

Jasper laughed without inhibition. "I'd have to agree. After all, I did think I would be able to stay away from you indefinitely."

Jasper heard her heart skip a beat at his subtle flirtation, her lips parting slightly in surprise.

He did find a sort of guilty pleasure in using not only his heightened senses, but also his abilities to gauge her reaction whenever he brushed against her or let out a particularly endearing statement.

About fifteen minutes into their drive, he had decided where exactly to take her. He had chosen a rocky beach that he had once discovered one night when he had been unable to laze about the Cullen house any longer. He had often revisited the area when his own sleepless existence became unbearable, choosing to sit along the rocky crags of the shorelines of the beach or climbing the lush pines that clung to the raised edges of the area.

He had, however, not visited the area in a long time in favor of watching over Diana's house in the night. He could feel his companion's confusion as they both stepped out of the Volvo and into the salty air of the ocean.

"Not a fan of the beach?" Jasper asked, sending a look her way across the roof of the car.

"I like the beach. I just didn't think this is the place that you'd choose," She responded

He chuckled as he crossed the threshold onto the mixture of sand and finely ground pebbles. "What? Did you think I was going to take you to my vampiric lair?"

"I hadn't ruled it out, truth be told," She said, her words suddenly cut off by the brisk chill that cut through the salty air.

Jasper started as recollection struck him, reaching into the backseat of his adoptive brother's vehicle and retrieving a coarsely knit blanket. The vampire circled the car at impossible speed before draping it over her exposed shoulders. He concealed a delighted grin when she shivered once more as his pale fingers brushed against her collarbone. Rationally, he knew it was likely the coldness of his skin could have been at fault for this, but he preferred to be hopeful in these situations.

Diana's hand flew over her heart at the boy's sudden appearance at her side, a poorly concealed curse escaping her lips. "I'm not used to that yet. How did you know that there wouldn't be anyone to see, anyways?" She asked, craning her neck as she looked around the desolate beach beyond them.

Jasper scoffed. "I'd have been able to hear the heartbeat of anyone within a few miles radius."

Her back straightened in surprise. "You can hear _heartbeats?"_

Jasper nodded. "It's the most efficient way to, erm, find something to eat, to phrase it nicely. It can be distracting, though, sometimes. Like now, I can hear even just the blood pumping through your veins."

He felt her quick spike of fear, heard her heart skip a quick beat as she pulled the blanket closer around herself, concealing the bare skin at the base of her neck.

"I didn't mean it like that," Jasper said dismissively, waving a hand. "Sorry."

He cursed his own eagerness to share his world with her, reminding himself that he needed to better recall which parts of his existence would be utterly frightening before mentioning them.

The brief silence that settled over the pair unsettled Jasper, so he was grateful when she changed the subject.

"Why do you have a blanket in the car, anyways? Don't you all stay at a constant cold? Do blankets help?"

"Only marginally," Jasper began as they crossed the threshold onto the finely ground pebbles and sand. "Standing in the sun is more effective, but you can imagine why we can't do that."

Her brows furrowed. "Do you burn? Like Dracula or Nosferatu?"

He chuckled. "No, but that would be preferable in my opinion, actually. I'll have to show you sometime. Anyways, Edward has been leaving the blanket there for your friend, Bella. He's quite taken with her."

Diana grinned, nodding. "He is, isn't he?" She paused a moment in consideration before adding onto her earlier statement. "Do you think she's safe with him?"

Jasper nodded. "Very, actually. He's extremely protective of her. I think he'd have her wrapped in bubble wrap if she allowed."

He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans as they walked further. "Alright. First question, shoot."

She paused for a second as if wracking her brain for an appropriate inquiry. "So you won't tell me how old you are. Will you tell me where you're from?"

He furrowed his brows. "Houston. You already know that."

She shrugged. "Well I wasn't sure if that was the truth. After all, I was under the pretense that you were a human, as well."

"I suppose you're right about that."

"So if you're really from the United States, you can't be more than two hundred something years old, right?"

Jasper let out a throaty laugh. "Lord, I'm not _that_ old. Stop aging me."

"Am I close? Even a little?

Jasper pursed his lips and Diana could almost sense the internal battle raging inside him until he sighed.

"Somewhat. But I'm still not that old."

"Are the age roles in your family the way your family shows them? As in your parents are the oldest, followed by you, Rosalie and Emmett and then Alice and Edward?"

"No, actually, but you're not completely wrong. Carlisle is the oldest, then me, then Esme, who's followed by Edward, then Alice, then Rosalie and finally Emmett." He seemed to think before tacking onto his statement. "Actually, Edward has been a vampire longer than Esme, so if you're asking who's been dead longer than the order would change.

He somewhat regretted his choice of terms when Diana cringed at the word ' _dead'._

"Well, depending on your definition of the word, of course," Jasper quickly amended, cursing his own idiocy of using a word that would only further alienate him in her eyes. "My heart may not…well, _beat,_ but I can still talk and think and feel and everything."

She nodded slowly, seeming to prefer to change the subject altogether rather than discuss the more uncomfortable specifics of his existence. "So how are you older than Rosalie, then? Were you just changed sooner?"

Jasper met her question with a completely blank look before understanding her inquiry. "Oh, no. Rose and I aren't actually related. It's really just a cover up story that makes a ' _young_ ' man like Carlisle having five adoptive children a little less odd. I actually oftentimes forget that we use that. I'm many years Rosalie's senior."

"So nobody in your family is actually related? Are your parents even actually together?"

Jasper nodded. "They're married, but no, none of the 'children' are related. We only occasionally have had to switch up blood relation stories to avoid suspicion, but the family mainly stopped doing that before I joined. I only really know that Edward and Esme posed as siblings for a time during the depression, and that Edward and Alice once took on the role as blood siblings one time during the nineteen seventies."

"It's so weird to hear you even just say that. I wasn't even alive yet."

He nodded. "It's strange for me sometimes too. I forget your youth very often."

Jasper was surprised when Diana wrinkled her nose in distaste. "That sounds so… _creepy."_

Jasper barked out a laugh, which still somehow sounded like a perfectly orchestrated bass tune skipped a small round stone he'd plucked from the pebble ridden ground, flicking it into the sea as his chuckles subsided. His immense strength caused the pebble to all but fly, successfully combating the rough surf as Diana marveled at the distance it traveled.

"I suppose you're right. For both our sakes, maybe we should avoid the topic of my seniority for the time being."

Diana nodded in agreement. "So next question. Do you still maintain bodily functions? Like eating and drinking and all that."

The boy shook his head, glad to have moved away from the topic of his longevity. "We can't digest anything, really, so anything we consume outside of our, erm, _diet_ , would have to be purged eventually. It's also generally revolting for us, so it's difficult to stomach. Water, on the other hand, is a different story. We don't need it to survive and it will still have to be sputtered up eventually, but it's not displeasing to us and can sometimes even offer a distraction if we're particularly thirsty."

He couldn't help but notice her slight recoil at the term _thirsty_ , causing him to scold himself for the poor language choice. She seemed to think for a moment before speaking, her voice hesitant.

"Jasper, what made you stop? Stop hurting people, I mean."

Jasper's lips twitched slightly as he mulled over how exactly to answer her question.

"It was the moral complications behind it, really. When you're first introduced to this life, you can think of absolutely nothing other than how hungry you are. There's no guilt, no morals and certainly no self-control. Everything you do is basically an instinctual reaction towards self-preservation. When you age, though, mature, that fades away somewhat. It wasn't long before I felt the guilt and couldn't stomach my lifestyle anymore."

His eyes shone in a strange gleam as he recollected a brighter portion of his past, sitting across from his companion on a rocky crag by the surf. "It was really Alice that you should credit, though. She found me and made me change, brought me to this family. I'm more than inclined to believe that if it weren't for her, I'd still be purposelessly drifting about the south with no intention excluding self-gratification."

Diana nodded, her eyes cast towards the churning gray waves, her brow creased as she weighed his answer. "But you feel now though, don't you? I mean your family, you have connections and relationships and all that, don't you?"

He hummed in affirmation. "Yes, we do. That mainly came with age and instruction, however. We're generally more civilized than others of our kind. Had it not been for Carlisle, I reckon, we'd be just as wild as the rest. You see, families are virtually nonexistent in our world. Vampires travel alone, in a pair at best if they've found a suitable mate. Any group larger than that would mostly be seen as competition for the next meal."

Feeling a spike of confusion in Diana, he looked over at the girl that now regarded him as she hugged her denim-clad legs.

"Mate?" She asked, her nose wrinkled at the animalistic ring to the term.

Jasper's eyes widened upon realizing that he slipped up on the one thing he'd really been trying hard to conceal from her: the mate bond. He cursed the lovely creature beside him, specifically her unflinching ability to get him to go on detailed discussions on just about anything under the sun.

"Er, yeah. That's a sort of… _thing_ , for vampires."

Diana quirked an arched brow, waving a hand to urge him into detail.

"It's sort of like, you know, how normal people have relationships, but different. Whereas people can largely go between any partners they'd like, vampires can't. Well, once they meet their mate that is. There's only one possible person designed for them, and once you find them, you're more or less stuck with them for better or for worse. I think it's supposed to sort of awaken humanity or something."

Diana hummed, her brows thoroughly furrowed in consideration. "So it's sort of like a soulmate? For forever?"

Jasper chuckled. "Yes, I suppose soulmate would be a hopelessly romantic term for it."

"And every vampire has one?"

Jasper nodded. "Yes, ma'am, most people do find theirs, eventually, though I suppose it may take a few centuries. Unless, of course, they end up dying before that."

Diana was stricken once again by his casual use of centuries to describe a seemingly inconsequential amount of time. She was also stricken by his reference to death.

"Vampires can die? Again?"

He chuckled, slightly at her alarm, nodding. "Of course we can. It's not an easy thing to do, but it is possible, to be certain."

She raised her brows in surprise. "How does it happen?"

"Woah," Jasper interrupted, laughing jovially. "Why so interested? Maybe I shouldn't go into specifics. I wouldn't want you to turn into a regular Buffy."

Diana chuckled at his humor before backtracking to her previous inquiries. "So your parents, Carlisle and Esme, they're mates?"

Jasper nodded.

"And Rosalie and the other one?" She wracked her brain quickly for the burly brother's name. "Emmett?"

"Yep," Jasper responded simply, popping the end of the word with a smack of his lips.

A silence fell over the pair before Diana's green eyes caught Jasper's auburn ones. "Have you…met yours?"

 _Oh boy,_ Jasper thought. He wasn't quite prepared for that question. What was he supposed to say? If he said yes, she would almost undoubtedly question who it was, and then what? He couldn't tell her it was someone else, which would certainly diminish almost any chance of them growing closer in that respect. But if he said no, it would do even more damage to their potential.

Jasper nodded robotically, his figure stiff as he awaited her next question. To his surprise, it never came. Rather, the air was simply filled with a rather pregnant silence. Then he felt it, a sharp sort of pain in the chest followed by a certain weight in the pit of his stomach.

 _Rejection?_ Why on earth was the girl beside him feeling so disappointed? _Unless-_

Jasper sighed. She clearly misinterpreted his words. A sort of panic overtook him as he watched her try her hardest to avoid looking at him. What was he supposed to do? He wanted to end her glumness, but certainly didn't feel ready to profess their inevitable connection on the spot. He had tried a few times to hint at their bond, but to no avail. He had even almost fallen to his desires and brushed lips with the girl beside him before his conscious scolded him, terrified of what might happen if the distraction she posed compromised his self-control even for half a second.

No, he couldn't tell her just yet, he wasn't ready. But he also couldn't just let her suffer either. He couldn't imagine how put out she must have felt, what with the extreme effects that the mate bond had, it would surely be painful to feel slighted for your intended over. Well, actually, he sort of could imagine what it felt like through his skills as an empath, but he felt poorly about it all the same.

 _Isn't she supposed to be smart? Why can't she just figure it out? He had only been trying to subtly display his ever growing feelings since they'd met._ He had almost made up his mind to tell her, if only to get the terrible image of her forlorn expression out of his head when a shrill tone filled the ocean air.

'It's my Mom," Diana said simply, her tone not quite as bubbly as it had been previously during their outing. "We'd better get back."

Jasper was about to speak up when she gingerly slid off of the rock on which they sat her retreating figure's shoulders slumped in disappointment.

The ride back to the Lansing house was certainly more silent than their departure, only broken up by soft tunes on the radio and small talk. The whole thing set jasper on edge as he floundered to consider ways to delicately break the news to her that she was pretty much destined to spend her life with a one-hundred and something year old man. He cringed at the thought. It _did_ sound rather disturbing. These inhibitions were mainly what stopped him from pulling over and unceremoniously blurting the truth of their circumstances out.

As he watched her disappear through the front door, Jasper sighed, running a cool, pale hand down his face in frustration at the girl's utter ignorance. He thought that teenaged girls were supposed to have a knack for all things romance? As much as he hated to admit it, he could really only think of one impossibly impish person that could pull him out of the mess he'd so deeply submerged himself and his love life in: _Alice._

 **A/N:** **Oh, God, Jasper has to go to Alice for some relationship advice. How do you all think that will turn out? In other news, I'll be turning seventeen this week! Now all that's left is moving to Washington and meeting some Cullens, haha. I hope you all enjoyed this week's long awaited chapter! Make sure to review and tell me what you think of this installment!**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N:** **Hey everyone! Jeez, talk about an unexpected gap in between updates. I'm terrible, I know. The worst. I'm so sorry for the lack of new chapters in this story over the past few months, I'm hoping to be able to get back to a regular posting schedule! I hope everyone enjoys chapter eighteen and remembers to review!**

 **Review from hiareportsyiy (chapter 17)-** **Sorry, sorry! I've been doing a lot of thinking on where exactly this story should go, and I'm hoping to maybe be able to extend the storyline into other books or a completely original plotline in the future (fingers crossed!)**

 **Review from Nonny (Chapter 17)-** **Thank you very much, prom was wonderful! Unfortunately, I didn't get to go with Edward Cullen :(. I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **Review from laraceleste (Chapter 17)-** **I'm really looking forward to writing more scenes of Alice meddling in her brother's love lives, so we can only hope that her advice will be helpful ;)**

 **Review from dragonmay11 (Chapter 17)-** **Hey, thank you so much! I tried very hard to make Diana relatable and not just another flat and boring OC, so it means a lot that you think the attempt at realism reaches all of the characters! I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **Review from burnthebook (Chapter 14)-** **I'll try my very hardest not to stretch Jasper's gorgeous accent toooo too much, haha.**

 **Review from chibi-no-baka (Chapter 17)-** **Ahhh I was hoping that was obvious enough and that I wouldn't have to go back and edit some internal monologue, lol. Hope you enjoy chapter 18!**

 **Review from TatianeGrimes (Chapter 17)-** **No giving up on stories here, just a terrible case of writer's block! Enjoy chapter 18!**

 **Review from freethinker1993 (Chapter 17)** **\- Hey! Thank you so much for reviewing! Sometimes when re-reading chapters I cringe at my style and little errors, so I'm thankful you don't feel the same way, lol.**

" _You_ _dolt."_

Alice's rather rude comment was only met with Jasper's furrowed brow.

"You absolute idiot."

"What did I do?"

"The fact that you're unable to realize yourself is astounding in the first place."

"Yes, well that would be the reason I came to you in the first place, now wouldn't it?" Jasper quipped as he clutched one of Alice's innumerable plush pillows to his chest. "An action I'm now beginning to regret, by the way."

The sight of Jasper in the center of Alice's overly rose-toned room, surrounded by pillows and plush animals no less, would have made Alice chuckle despite herself had she not been so preoccupied with the problem at hand.

The vampire had been pacing back and forth on the hardwood floor of her bedroom for upwards of twenty minutes, her unnecessarily high heels clicking upon the surface. Jasper had decided that the resulting sound was the most bothersome he'd heard in his lifetime about ten minutes into their conversation. Had vampires had the capacity to have headaches, he was nearly certain that his head would be splitting at that moment.

"You would just think that in your hundred-something years that you'd at least learn _a thing_ about girls."

"You would also think that I'd have learned to not come to you for advice," Jasper said, moving to rise from Alice's bed and make towards the door.

With nothing but a firm look from his adoptive sister, Jasper's hands rose in silent submission, returning to his seat.

"Well she's obviously got the whole mate thing confused," Alice reasoned as she perched herself atop a white vanity. Her golden eyes were far off in thought as she considered all the possible misconceptions that her dear friend Diana could have had. "And you're sure she didn't give any signs to what she may have thought?"

"I don't know how you expect me to know exactly what she was thinking, Alice," Jasper huffed running a hand through his hair. "I'm no mind reader."

Alice's eyes lit up in a gleeful display of recognition, her mouth quickly forming a broad smile.

A third, faraway voice, carried down the hall of the Cullen household with an undoubtedly firm " _No."_

"Yes," Alice insisted, her tone leaving little room for discussion.

"I refuse," Edward shot back, his own voice demanding finality.

Just as he usually was when in a conversation with Edward and Alice, he was more or less in the dark. At times like these, it wasn't quite beneficial to be in on the siblings strictly mental discourse.

No matter the topic, though, if Jasper knew Alice at all, Edward's demand for finality would not be realized.

"And just why not?" Alice questioned, her lips forming a slight pout.

A set of footsteps hastened down the hall until Edward stood in Alice's doorway, his arms crossed over his chest as he sported an expression that conveyed very little amusement.

"I'm not in the habit of poking around in other people's thoughts, Alice,"

As Jasper now fully understood what was being suggested the entire time, he felt the familiar sense of discomfort at the idea of Edward listening to Diana's thoughts. Sure, it certainly wouldn't matter much if she were simply thinking of mundane things, but it was also extremely possible that Edward would hear something he wasn't meant to-something private.

Ready to side with Edward on the lack of privacy that Alice's plan would force upon Diana, Alice cut him off before he had the chance to speak. HE wondered briefly if her visions had given her foresight on how this conversation might go, preparing her for all of his arguments against the plan.

"Jasper, the only thing Edward would intrude on is what exactly is making her upset. And if you know what misconceptions she has, you can set them right and make her happy again. But, like I said, only if you _know_ what she's thinking."

Jasper didn't revel in admitting it, but she did have a point. If Jasper were to confront Diana about what had happened over the weekend without knowing exactly she was thinking, there was certainly no way he could fix things between them. Without knowing for sure what the cause for the tension between them was, he feared that he may even make things worse.

Alice turned to address Edward as Jasper further considered her reasoning.

"And Edward, If you're going to lie, you could at least attempt to make it something more believable. You literally _just_ poked around my head."

"That's different."

"How so?"

"Alice, if you really didn't want me to hear what you were thinking, you wouldn't have let me hear."

"Maybe, but I never specifically invited you in," Alice insisted, a well-manicured finger tapping her pale forehead. "And therefore, it was an invasion."

Edward scoffed, about to rebuttal when Alice simply pointed an accusatory finger at him. "I refuse to let your moral complications stand in the way of Jasper's love life. It's been much too long since I planned a good ceremony, you know."

"Nobody's getting married, Alice. She's only seventeen," Edward insisted with a slight roll of his ochre eyes.

Alice waved a hand dismissively. "That doesn't even matter in the grand scheme of things. Technically I'm only twenty, you know."

Jasper snorted, pulling himself from his thoughts and interrupting the banter between the two. "Yeah, maybe about four times over."

His quip was met with one of the stuffed animals lining Alice's room being hurled at him, caught only just in time by his reflexes.

'Southern gentleman my-"

"That's enough," Edward interrupted, sending Alice a look. Edward's aversion to particularly colorful language had been the but of many of the Cullen children's jokes over the years.

Jasper chuckled, crossing his long, jean-clad legs as he settled into the comfort of Alice's bed.

"Come on Edward, just this one teeny little favor? For Jasper? I'm sure that he wouldn't even mind you reading Diana's mind for this purpose."

"I don't particularly see how it's in his right to allow it in the first place, being that his mind isn't the subject of discussion."

Jasper felt a pang of guilt for not the first time during the trio's conversation as he considered the truth besides Edward's words, wondering what really gave him the right to support Edward's invasion of Diana's privacy. Sure, he was her mate and all, but he certainly didn't have the rights to her thoughts.

Alice groaned from her seat. "You two overthink _everything_. I'm sure she won't be angry with either of you when she learns the purpose of this. _If_ she ever even finds out, by the way."

Sorting through his inner turmoil, Jasper spoke once more.

"I mean, how _am_ I supposed to make things better if I don't exactly know what's wrong? If I were to confront her now, without any reliable knowledge, I could make her more upset or offend her or something, couldn't I?"

Edward sighed, internally admitting that that _was_ a valid concern. He oftentimes did have internal conflicts regarding his abilities. Most of the time, he listened to other's thoughts without too much guilt. When it came to his siblings, they were all at least aware of his abilities and be conscious enough to watch specifically private thoughts around him. In the cases of the people around town and school, he didn't feel too horribly since most all of them thought of terribly mundane topics, coupled with the fact that they weren't even aware of him knowing such things about them. If they never knew, he reasoned, they would have no reason to be embarrassed or upset in the first place.

When it came to Diana, however, he felt a bit differently. Being that she was undoubtedly becoming more and more involved in their world, there may be an actual consequence when it came to listening to her internal musings. Furthermore, where she knew of his gifts, she was not so aware to the point of being able to protect her thoughts around him. Sure, she had avoided thinking too much around him while she and Bella had uncovered the Cullen's secret, but he was sure that that task had been terribly strenuous on its own.

Reasoning that if he could learn more about Diana's confusion when it came to the mate bond that it would only help her in the long run, Edward sighed, looking warily at Jasper for his vote on the manner.

Jasper sorted through his guilt and confusion on the topic, wondering just how unforgivable it would be to take a _tiny_ peek into her mind.

"Edward," Jasper began, his chin resting in his hand as he considered his newest thought. "Could you tap into her thoughts, just slightly, to see the what she's generally thinking about before fully listening? And if its not about me, what happened over the weekend, just stop listening?"

"I suppose I could try that," Edward said, considering his abilities to not pry _too_ much.

Alice met both of her brothers with a hopeful look, a rather large smile gracing her features as she bounced on her toes once.

Throwing his arms up in defeat, Edward gave in to yet another insistence from his younger sister.

 _"Fine."_

Jasper sighed as Alice's gaze switched over to him, forcing himself to make a decision, hoping that it was the right one.

 _"_ Alright, I'm in."

* * *

"So how's the arm feeling?" Bella questioned, sending a tentative glance to her friend in the passenger's seat.

"Better," I answered tentatively. "Still feels a bit odd to have any sort of control of it, really."

I had, over the weekend, finally been released from the hell that was a collarbone sling. Dr. Cullen had conveniently taken a sick day on that unusually sunny afternoon, so a substitute doctor had been my savior. There had been no better feeling in my life than being able to sleep and shower without having to worry about my rather useless left arm.

"Don't think I haven't noticed the extra bag," She commented, nodding back to the duffel bag that had been haphazardly thrown in the bed of the chevy. "You've finally decided to try out for volleyball?"

"It could be a body," I shot back pointedly, still unsure of my decision in the first place.

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, shut up. I don't know why you're so touch and go on volleyball, anyways. It'll be fine. Fun, even."

"Did Bella Swan just call volleyball fun?" I asked, humor glinting in my eyes.

"You know what I mean, Ana. Fun for _you._ That's not my personal cup of tea."

"You're assuming that I'll make the team in the first place. Highly unlikely."

"I don't even think our team's that good in the first place," Bella countered as she turned on to yet another side street."

"You've never even been at Forks for a volleyball season, so you couldn't even prove that."

"Yeah, but neither have you, so you can't prove me wrong exactly. Come on, you must have some faith in yourself if you're even bothering to tryout in the first place."

I took a moment before answering, staring up at the gray clouds that churned in the sky through the windshield while gathering my thoughts.

"I just saw my old stuff the other night and just thought that maybe, you know, if my sister were around, she'd want me to do something with myself instead of just worrying about some boy."

Bella gnawed on her lower lip slightly as the elephant in the room, well, _truck_ , was finally acknowledged.

"Yeah," She started quietly, "I'm sure she would." She took a moment before continuing. "And he really just didn't say anything besides describing the whole 'mate' thing?"

"Nope," I confirmed, trying my hardest to not let the degree of my sullenness show.

"Well, technically, that doesn't mean it's not you," Bella said in an attempt to reassure me that largely fell flat.

"He definitely would've told me if I were, Bella."

"You can't really know that, though. Teenaged boys are incredibly stupid."

"I don't think that you can include a who-knows-how-old vampire in the teenager stereotype."

A moment of silence fell upon the two of us, and I couldn't help but notice the drumming of Bella's slender fingers atop the steering wheel.

"He didn't really mention you or Edward when it came to the whole mate thing. Although, before that, he did say that Edward was ' _quite taken'_ with you," I explained, mimicking Jasper's Southern accent with a bit too much accentuation.

The thought of the accent, unfortunately, led to the specific thought of Jasper, which brought a slight pang to my chest. I couldn't even justify my own intense reaction to our conversation over the weekend. Something about the thought of Jasper being destined for someone else set an odd feeling in my gut. It wasn't quite jealousy, no, though that was certainly a component. There just seemed to be something inherently wrong about the thought, something that screamed that there must be some sort of mistake. The unexplainable inner conflict had plagued me ever since Jasper and I's conversation on that rocky beach, keeping me awake into the early morning hours of the weekend, not loosening it's firm control over me even now, days after our meeting.

Bella's monologue interrupted my thoughts, and I could see a slight amount of guilt in her for being so curious about her own situation whilst mine was at an all time low.

"I don't even like the term 'mate'. It sounds sort of gross. Animalistic, I guess, would be a term for it."

I nodded, wrinkling my nose a bit in agreement as we pulled into the parking lot of Forks High school. Staring at the red brick building, I couldn't help but pray that I wouldn't be greeted with Jasper's grinning face upon entering class. Maybe, if luck was on my side, he would've come down with some sort of vampire-related sickness or decided to take a cross country trip on a whim.

As Bella and I made the brief journey through the parking lot, I couldn't help but let my mind wander once more. I hadn't mentioned to Bella the truth about Jasper's mate, the fact that it was Alice, due to a lingering bit of self-pity. I didn't quite feel like only defining the impossibility of my attraction towards Jasper, knowing that I would stand no chance against Alice, who was arguably one of the most gorgeous people I had ever met in my life. I had spent two sleepless nights over the weekend trying my very hardest to convince myself that maybe I had been mistaken and that Alice was, in fact, only Jasper's adoptive sister. Unfortunately, these attempts had been fruitless, especially as I took into account the admiration with which Jasper had regarded Alice with just before our conversation had turned to mate bonds.

I tried my very hardest to banish any feelings of jealousy or inadequacy out of my mind, knowing full well that I should be happy that Jasper was intended for someone as lovely and sweet as Alice. Try as I might, though, I could not quite force myself to feel overly happy for my two friends.

 _Friend,_ I stressed as my mind drifted to Jasper once more. _A friend and nothing more._

I truly tried to force myself to be grateful that he was my friend at all, but I could not quite squash that greedy little part of me that yearned to have a further, more intimate connection with the blond.

For what was not the first time that morning, my thoughts were interrupted by Bella's voice.

"Edward?"

There, standing in the corner nearest to the large set of doors that led into Forks high school, was Edward, his face tense in concentration.

Edward blinked, seeming taken aback at his sudden acknowledgment. His eyes darted between Bella and I for a moment as she let go of her grasp on the door handle.

"What are you...doing?" Bella questioned, her lips downturned in confusion as she regarded him.

Edward seemed to wrack his brain for a proper response, his mouth opening and closing a few times, giving him an odd likeness to a strangely attractive fish out of water. His eyes continued to anxiously dance between the two of us, and I couldn't help but feel that they lingered on me for just half a moment too long.

I squinted at him slightly, internally wishing that I myself was a mind reader. After all, every single interaction I had ever had with Edward had involved quite odd behavior on his part, and I would have loved to be able to understand what exactly was wrong with the boy. I had theorized that he had some unfortunate mental shortcomings, but I wasn't quite sure on that yet.

"I was just, erm, thinking," Edward responded lamely, focusing on Bella. "May I walk you to class?"

Bella hesitated, glancing at me briefly. I waved her on before she had the chance to decline.

"I can survive the walk to first period by myself, Bella,"

Scoffing good-naturedly, she grinned at me as she entered the building. Edward trailed behind her, his hand just ghosting over the small of her back.

I couldn't help but watch them wistfully as they walked down the hallway. When Bella and Edward were together, there was an undeniable shift in the air. They were like magnets, moving in sync and balancing one another out to perfection. Sometimes, while watching the two, it could almost seem as if one was imposing on an extremely delicate interaction.

I sighed, turning down the portion of the hallway that led to my locker. Where I was certainly happy for Bella, I couldn't help but wish that my current love life didn't so obviously pale in comparison to hers.

Yes, yes, I had, at some point over the weekend, admitted to myself that I did, in fact, have a crush on Jasper Hale.

 _Had,_ I internally corrected, scolding myself once again. _You're completely over it, simple as that._ I couldn't help but wonder if Jasper was right, and that I was a terrible liar. I sure did a terrible job of convincing myself that I was done with the entire situation.

I couldn't entirely blame myself, though. After all, who wouldn't have a crush on Jasper Hale? It was Jasper Hale, for crying out loud. He had the unfair advantage of what was basically supernatural plastic surgery. As for his personality and jokes that made me laugh until I had stitches in my side, I supposed that he was just lucky to have been dealt a good personality.

The ringing of the bell reminded me that my current academic situation strongly discouraged me from wallowing in self-pity all day. _Is it really too late to drop French and or Calculus?_

* * *

Unfortunately, Alice had been missing from French yet again. Personally, I thought it was extremely unfair that her undisclosed amount of extra years on Earth meant that she could miss first period nearly every day and _still_ understand French better than I would ever be able.

With Alice's absence, I had unfortunately been left to my own thoughts, thoughts that bled into second and third period, leaving me with no hope when it came to understanding the current Calc unit.

I had, at least, not been thinking of Jasper, but something that may have been arguably worse: _Volleyball._

I was essentially a sentient ball of anxiety. I mean, was I crazy? I hadn't so much as practiced volleyball in literal _years,_ and now I just assumed that I'd be able to walk on the court and do decently? In my mind, tryouts were essentially a death wish.

Sure, performance anxiety had always generally been a thing for me when it came to sports, but this was a different level. At least once I had at least been somewhat good and at least slightly conditioned. If they even asked me to run a lap at tryouts today, it was extremely possible that I'd collapse halfway through.

I would be rather mortified if I didn't make the team, especially now that I knew Lauren Mallory was on it. Where my interactions with the blonde had been few and far between since the first day of school, I still remembered her extreme attitude. I was sure that she would have relished in seeing me be rejected the Forks volleyball team, and, to be quite frank, I would have rather died than give her that satisfaction.

By the time the fourth period rolled around, I had remembered that I would also be facing Jasper for the first time since his veiled rejection towards me and my abrupt departure over the weekend.

This stressor, coupled with the additional looming presence of volleyball tryouts later in the day, just about drove me to a breaking point. I had barely even registered the trip from third to fourth period and was left battling a bout of nausea in my seat, head in my hands.

The curtain my dark hair provided helped significantly to block out the harsh fluorescent lighting and movement of my classmates that only seemed to increase the likeliness of me sputtering up my breakfast.

I was just about to seek sanctuary in the comfort of the nurse's office, which would have been a very convenient place to not only be sick in private, but also to successfully avoid any interaction with Jasper for the day.

With this escape method in mind, I was just about to act out my master plan when the same musical voice I had been specifically intending to avoid interrupted my actions.

"Diana, I need to speak with- what's wrong with you?"

He must have caught my slight glare through once of the parts in my hair because he backtracked, amending his original statement.

"I mean, you're just really nervous. I mean- you _seem_ really nervous, excuse me."

I involuntarily sighed a bit as I sat up, looking at him in full for the first time since Saturday. He was looking just as he always did, which was a compliment on it's own. I couldn't even begin to imagine how strung out I looked in comparison.

"I've got volleyball tryouts later today. Just a bit nervous, I guess."

 _That has to be the understatement of the year._

"I didn't know you played volleyball," Jasper commented as he took his usual seat in the desk beside mine.

"Well, it's been a while," I said, doing my best to still my rapid heartbeat, an unfortunate product of both the mention of volleyball and Jasper's presence.

 _Alright, so, maybe I'm not over him just yet. But I will be. Soon. It's a process._

"And why are you so nervous about it?" He questioned, setting his back down beside his desk.

"Mainly just the lack of practice in a couple of years. Also, if I don't make the team, I'll be enabling a lot of gloating that I don't feel like being on the receiving end of."

"By whom?" Jasper questioned, quirking a brow curiously.

"Nobody that I'm overly fond of, I'll have you know."

"So you're worried that you won't make the team?"

"That I'll do terribly, not make the team, and subsequently become a social outcast. From there, I'll become a recluse and then probably a hermit"

Jasper took a moment to chuckle before leaning in, his eyes attaching to mine with a strange sort of focus that was much too direct for the casual conversation at hand. Where I usually had to do my best not to invade Jasper's personal space, I now fought the urge to lean back slightly at his oddly timed close proximity.

"I'm sure you'll do fine," Jasper reassured with an air of certainty.

Strangely, his comforting words seemed to resonate with me almost instantly, with the majority of the sick feeling in my seeming to drift away, a strange sense of confidence taking its place.

"You really think so?" I asked, surprised at the effect of his presence.

He nodded, "I'm sure of it, actually."

I beamed at the boy across from me, glad not only for his hand in easing my nerves, but also for being kind enough not to mention the train wreck that I'd caused on Saturday.

With the portion of my worries for the day involving Jasper alleviated, I hardly even groaned internally when our grisly old history teacher began his lecture now that I knew that Jasper and I weren't on the awkwardest of terms.

With the majority of my nerves settled, the rest of the day passed by like a breeze. With my strange newfound confidence, I had even alleviated Bella of her moral support duties and assured her that I would call my parents or catch a ride home with Jess after tryouts.

* * *

My nerves had stayed at bay all the way throughout tryouts, much to my own amazement. Where my extreme lack of cardio practice had shown through more than a couple times, it seemed that my general skills had stuck with me despite my years of neglect towards the sport. I had even sent an unexpected spike Lauren Mallory's way at one point, and the look on her face alone had filled up my joy quota for at least a month.

Overall, I was extremely pleased with how tryouts had gone, and I was confident that I'd earned myself a spot on the team. I had decided not to change out of my clothes and shower in the girl's locker room, but rather to wait for a proper shower in the comfort of my own home.

As I wrestled the duffle bag I had brought with me into my locker, I couldn't help but overhear some of the conversation being had by a few other girls that had been present at tryouts.

"Jasper Hale? Here?"

Now my interest was piqued.

"Yeah, I saw him just hanging around when I went outside after I'd asked coach for a breather."

"I just don't see a reason why he'd be hanging around for volleyball tryouts."

"Are you an idiot or something? Guys always hang around when there are girls in spandex to be seen. That's such an old trick. Tyler does it all the time." There was no mistaking that voice. Lauren Mallory. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at anything the girl said. I wasn't prepared for her next statement, though, which succeeded in making my blood boil. "He is quite good looking though, isn't he? I always did like that sort of strong and silent type."

I scoffed, slamming my locker shut as I hastened for the door that led out to the parking lot. I didn't quite revel in hearing anything that spewed from Lauren's mouth, particularly anything about Jasper.

Pulling out my cell phone with the intent of calling my Mom, I was so caught up in cursing Lauren Mallory in every possible way under my breath that I didn't even notice the figure lingering beside the double doors until they called out my name.

"Diana?"

I wasn't quite prepared for Jasper's voice to call out for me at that moment, despite knowing that he was in the area.

"Jesus, Jasper," I huffed, my hand flying over my pounding heart.

"Sorry," He said through a lopsided grin.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, glad that my cheeks had been flushed before even seeing him because of tryouts, thanking my lucky stars that he probably wouldn't be able to notice the extra heat that rose to my cheeks in response to his smile.

"I figured I'd check in to see how tryouts went." He responded, giving me an expectant look as he approached me, hands stuffed inside the pockets of a pair of blue jeans.

"Good, I think," I answered, lowering my forgotten cell phone. "I even _just_ missed out on giving Lauren a bloody nose," I said, emphasizing how closely the situation had slipped by with my pointer finger and thumb, mourning the missed opportunity that would allow me to give Lauren a bloody nose in a socially acceptable manner.

"And it's a bad thing that you didn't?" He asked, cocking his head to the side. "Is that whoever you were describing in rather colorful language under your breath just now?" He questioned, a knowing look glinting in his eye.

I bit my lower lip slightly, only somewhat ashamed to have been caught in the act.

"It's not like they weren't very true things that she didn't deserve," I justified.

He only laughed, and I took his lack of substantial response as a chance to speak again.

"So, you just hung around the school to ask how tryouts went?" I asked, slightly confused at the action since it would've been much more reasonable to just ask me the next day in class.

He seemed a bit taken aback and my question, seeming to search for a proper response for a moment.

"Well, yeah, that, but I also saw Bella's truck leave the lot earlier today and thought that maybe you'd need a ride home. If you didn't call anyone else already that is," He said, nodding to the phone in my hand.

"Oh," I began, surprised at his extreme consideration. "No, I haven't called anyone. Thank you," I added quickly, not wanting to seem rude after he'd taken the time to think of me.

I took a quick scan of the parking lot, not seeing any cars that I'd recognized to be associated with the Cullen family until I saw it.

"Oh, God. On that, you mean?"

He regarded the motorcycle parked across the lot with a grin.

"The one and only."

I spared another hesitant glance at the machine. It seemed to be older, but still in quite impressive condition despite its age.

 _Sort of like Jasper himself, in a way._

"Are you going to kill me on that thing?"

He put a hand on his chest in a display of mock offense. "I'm a perfectly safe driver, I'll have you know."

"Hard to believe."

"Is that a yes or a no?" Jasper questioned, the dimples in his cheek becoming more pronounced as he flashed a grin.

"I guess so," I said after a moment's consideration. "Thank you, again," I added on once more, quickly, not wanting my hesitance to be confused with ungratefulness.

He nodded simply, gesturing in the direction of the bike as an invitation to begin our walk.

"So, Lauren, huh?" He asked with a slight smirk. "Tell me about that situation."

"I don't think it's very polite of you to listen in on my personal complaining sessions, Jasper."

He chuckled, waving a hand dismissively. "Eh, I'd probably feel the same way about her. I've never spoken to her, but advanced hearing and such nasally, bothersome voices usually don't mix overly well."

I laughed, a real laugh that makes your head tilt back for just a moment and your eyes screw shut. "It is rather nasally, huh?"

"Overly so, wouldn't you say?"

When my giggles dissolved, we walked in companionable silence for awhile as I kicked stray pebbles from my path. There was scarcely any noise besides the soft crunching of the gravel underfoot until Jasper suddenly broke the silence, a note of uncertainty in his voice.

"Diana, I've been meaning to talk to you about something."

I quirked a brow, my head swiveling slightly to give him a sidelong glance as we walked.

"About Saturday-"

 _Oh, God. Just kill me now._

I was certain that death would be preferable to the intense embarrassment I was undoubtedly about to be subjected to.

I had originally been grateful that we had both seemed to non verbally agreed to pretending that this past weekend had never happened, thrilled that our friendship would apparently be left unscathed from the awkward standing it had been left in.

That had been wishful thinking, apparently.

How was I to know that Jasper had been biding his time, waiting to lure me in before ensnaring me in this conversational trap?

"About that," I began, already feeling the dread that came along with this conversation settle in my gut. "I'm sorry if things were- you know, weird."

I gestured between the two of us with my hands, hoping to God that he wouldn't make me address the specifics of the situation.

"No, no, it's not that at all," Jasper said, shoving his hands in his pockets once more as he looked skywards, a strangely contemplative expression taking over his face."It's just that I haven't been completely honest with you about the whole thing, I guess. By omission, I mean."

"How so?" I asked, my pace slowing slightly as I considered his words.

"I mean, I got the impression that you thought that Alice and I were- well, that Alice was my mate. She's not." Jasper stopped walking entirely as we just about reached his motorcycle, his hands still stuffed deep into his pockets as his weight shifted between his two feet. His uncertain expression betrayed a certain hesitance that only seemed to increase with each word he spoke.

"She's not?" I asked, feeling my eyes widen slightly in surprise. I couldn't help but feel a certain hopefulness bubble up in my chest. Even when I tried to remind myself that just because _Alice_ wasn't his mate didn't give me any reason to be hopeful, I couldn't quite suppress it.

"No, no she's not. Just my sister. I mean, adoptive, but you knew that anyway. What I mean to say is that you are. Not my sister, I mean, but you know-"

My brows furrowed in pure confusion as I tried to decipher the meaning behind his jumbled words that tumbled out of his mouth in rapid succession. Such behavior was quite strange for Jasper, who was usually the most eloquently spoken person that I knew.

"What I'm trying to say, really, is that it's you. My mate, that is. You're my mate."

He seemed to be physically taxed after the immense effort of trying to string his words together into a coherent sentence, his shoulders sagging slightly in relief. Now that he was successful in doing so, however, it was my turn to be without words.

I felt my jaw slacken slightly just before is snapped shut, my body straightening unconsciously at his unexpected revelation. I felt my throat constrict slightly, in that way that it so often does when one is just at a loss for words. I tried my very hardest to think despite the overly loud pounding of my heart in my ears, not overly impressed with my mind's final product for a response.

"You mean-What? Me?" I stuttered, not quite being able to force my mouth to form anything more substantial.

He nodded, exhaling heavily as he ran a hand through his hair, casting his golden tresses away from his face.

"I know its- you know, a lot, and I completely understand if it's _too_ much right now, if you need to take some time to consider things, or even if you're not interested in anything at all-"

Before he could begin yet another long-winded ramble, my body seemed to act on its own. Even though I knew my sudden actions were a product of my own desires, it was almost as if a pair of invisible hands thrust me forward in an enthusiastic encouragement as I suddenly leaped forward in one uncoordinated step, planting my lips upon his, if only just due to their off-centered union, in a rather hasty and clumsy excuse for a kiss that involved much too much bumping of noses.

It was almost a one sided thing, as Jasper seemed to be frozen in place. His hands, which had been withdrawn from his jean pockets at some point during the experience, now ghosted hesitantly just shy of my mid back.

Almost as quickly as I acted, I pulled away, my face having been engulfed in a heat unlike any I had ever experienced in my life, a product of my actions and the embarrassment that followed.

"Sorry-" I said quickly, aghast at my own fervor. "I didn't mean to- you know, that was quite sudden of me and all." Both Jasper and I's eyes had taken on quite a comically wide appearance, and it was rather unclear which of us was more shocked.

I cursed myself for not only having leapt on him in such an uninhibited manner, but also for doing so just after volleyball tryouts. As if kissing him (If such a clumsy thing could even be justified as an actual kiss) wasn't bad enough, I'd just _had_ to do it in my sweatiest, most unkempt state that amounted to what was probably the most unattractive form Jasper had even seen me in. Words couldn't even describe my worry at what I most likely smelled like, especially with his heightened poor boy was probably trying his hardest not to gag out of politeness

Blinking once, then twice, Jasper seemed to regain his bearings, if only slightly. He took another moment or so to clear his throat, flexing his jaw once, then twice. "No need to apologize for something like that, darlin'," He said, that same smile gracing his features once more, though I wondered if I was imagining the slight strain behind it. "Maybe just a fair warning next time, though."

I had completely forgotten about the matter of his vampirism affecting such a thing, feeling a bit guilty that I had given him no warning and certainly having caught him off guard, only further testing his apparently strained self-control.

I could only hope that that was the reason for the tension that seemed to have overtaken his body, reasoning that he may have just resorted to his not-breathing trick.

Shaking himself, he grabbed the helmet hanging from the handlebars of his motorcycle and handed it to me.

"Why aren't you wearing it?" I questioned, turning it over in my hands.

He swung one leg over his bike, straddling it as he turned to look at me. "If something _were_ to happen, I'd be fine without a helmet. You certainly wouldn't be."

"Right," I said, nodding at the grim thought as I put the helmet on, fastening the chinstrap tightly. "Thanks."

Jasper nodded approvingly at the safety precaution, patting the seat just behind him.

Hesitantly, I swung my own leg over just as he did, with considerably less grace. As I settled into the seat, he turned to look back at me, humor dancing in his eyes.

"If you sit like that, you're going to fly off of the back before we even make it out of the parking lot."

I nodded, timidly scooting a bit closer to him. He shook his head, motioning with his hand to move closer.

When I was just about as close as one could be to another person, I was only drawn further out of the security of distance when he turned around once more, reaching over to me and wrapping both my arms tightly around his torso.

"Now, don't let go unless you really want to test the quality of that helmet."

A motorcycle ride with Jasper Hale went almost exactly as one could have guessed it would: With my heart beating out of my chest the entire time.

I figured that he must have heard the sound, since he generally stayed true to his promise and drove quite slowly. The speed, however, wasn't as much a culprit of my increased heart rate as much as being pressed flush against his back was. The most strenuous part of the whole experience, though, was the immense effort that went into my attempt to not focus on the feeling of his torso beneath my hands.

Despite my balancing precariously on the edge of going into cardiac arrest throughout the ride, it seemed to be over all too soon as he pulled into my driveway, drawing the machine to a stop before dismounting it.

In true Jasper fashion, he made sure to offer a hand as I climbed off of it, nearly stumbling after throwing my leg off of it with a bit too much force.

As he walked me to my front door, I was just about to reach for the handle of the front door before he lifted a hand, knocking gently on the hard surface of the helmet that I had forgotten to take off, amusement clear on his face.

"Oh, right," I said, laughing lighting as I pulled it off my head, handing it to him.

I rolled my jaw, happy that my face was free of the compression upon my cheeks.

He chuckled, a hand reaching out to brush some of the hair out of my face. "Helmet hair," He said simply.

I was suddenly more aware of his close proximity as he leaned in closely, his cool lips brushing ever so slightly against my cheek, causing my eyes fluttering shut.

His heightened sense of hearing certainly aided both of us at that moment, for when the front door swung open to reveal my mother, Jasper was already gone.

I couldn't help but curse the woman who gave me life as I was painfully aware of the sudden vacancy of the space just beside me, much preferring when Jasper's form had taken it up.

Looking around at the absence of anything that would have indicated his presence beside me only moments before, the words he had uttered earlier about a fair warning echoed in my mind, and I just couldn't quite keep myself from wondering when the next time might be.

 **A/N: I hope everyone enjoyed! A (sort of) kiss was way overdue, wasn't it? Make sure to review and tell me what you thought of these two being hopelessly awkward once again.**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Hello everyone! I'm extremely happy to announce that we've reached 300 follows! Thank you to everyone who has been following, favoriting, and reviewing, it means a lot to me! I never expected this story to get much response at all, so this is amazing news! I hope you all enjoy!**

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Jasper Hale didn't quite want to admit the extreme effect that Diana's clumsy display of affection had had on him.

For one thing, he was in no way, shape or form ready for her to pounce on him in such a way. One would think that with his heightened senses, he would have been able to sense her intentions, or at least feel a spike in her anxiety just before the action.

But no, unfortunately, he was so caught up in his own nervousness about the entire interaction that he was caught completely off guard by the teenaged girl.

He certainly didn't mean to say that he didn't enjoy it, but was painfully aware of the stress it had put on his self restraint. He had never, _ever_ been in such close proximity with a human since before becoming a vegetarian.

The sudden closeness of Diana, her scent enveloping him, her pulse drumming oh so close to him was nearly tantalizing. Even though he didn't feel the same lust for her blood as he did for most humans he'd come across, he was painfully aware of how easy it could have been to drain her right then and there.

Where he had definitely gone as stiff as a board, he felt as if he had handled the situation well. Sure, he hadn't quite reciprocated the clumsy kiss, but Diana was alive, so he was focusing on the small victories.

He was quite proud that he was able to play the whole thing off, even after his mouth had flooded with venom at the temptation of a human oh so close. It was a blessing in his mind that she hadn't realized the amount of restraint he had been forced to use, not wanting to have frightened her.

That had been two weeks ago now. Since then, Jasper had been spending an extreme amount of his time attempting to stick to a strict regimen of attempting self control. He spent most nights trying his very hardest to swallow any venom that pooled into his mouth, or willing it away entirely.

Before meeting Diana, he hadn't really had much need to do such a thing so strictly, as he normally maintained a rather far distance from people or had one of his siblings nearby to keep him in check.

Now that he was becoming closer to Diana, though, he had decided that just holding his breath and hoping that his control would last wasn't enough. If things were to... _progress_ further with Diana, he needed to be sure that he could trust himself around her, at least to an extent. Afterall, he didn't want to run the risk of accidentally taking a breath around her and catching her scent while off guard, fearful of putting her in danger.

Since that day, he and Diana had maintained their regular contact with each other, with walking together to classes or occasionally slipping away to spend the lunch period away from the chatter of the cafeteria on warmer days that had resisted winter's residual grip as Forks slowly inched closer to spring.

They hadn't quite discussed the whole mate bond thing in depth, only referencing his vampirism in general when he could sense Diana's buzzing curiosity in the air. He figured that soon enough, the topic would be brought up in more depth, and that she was simply taking the time to mull things over in her mind. He was pretty sure that Diana had been holding a lot of her questions back out of respect, not wanting to bombard him with thousands of questions and make him feel like a specimen that was purely for study.

He could certainly understand that she may need a bit of time to consider everything. He was sure that if their roles were reversed, he would definitely be intimidated at such a large revelation, especially considering her young age.

A part of Jasper felt a bit guilty that this was all being thrust upon her at the age of seventeen. Of course, he supposed that seventeen in a human lifespan was a normal time to be making decisions, but it seemed almost infantile in comparison to his own age.

A part of him felt that his presence was already ushering her life into a specific direction before she had really even had the chance to live.

When this turmoil surfaced, he mainly just reminded himself that he couldn't quite help their meeting, as such was the way of fate. If he was destined to meet his mate, there wasn't really anything he could have done to prevent it, even if he had known.

He was also adamant on the fact that he would give Diana every chance in the world to branch off from him and live her own life if that was what she so desired, regardless of the amount of pain it may cause him.

Over the two weeks since the supposed kiss, where he and Diana had certainly grown closer, there hadn't been much progress made romantically or physically. Oftentimes, it was limited to a brush of the hand or bumping shoulders in the hallway. He almost felt as if he really were a teenager again, grappling in the awkwardness of a potential lover, rather than just being an imposter hiding in their world.

The boldest displays he had gotten to was intertwining their fingers, if only for a moment, once or twice before pulling away. He had also managed the occasional chaste brush of the lips against her forehead or cheek as a brief farewell, which were only a light graze against the skin that Diana could have nearly mistaken for the breeze that he often caused upon leaving.

He and Diana had planned another day together, both hoping that it would go a bit smoother than the last one had.

Over the past two weeks, though, Diana had stolen away whenever she could to see Jasper, even if it were only for a few minutes under the excuse of a breath of fresh air on the porch or a walk to the mailbox.

She had feared that her mother had begun to amount suspicion about the increasingly frequent car rides with 'Alice', since she never seemed to step out of the car or come to the door. Because of the famous intuition that all mothers seemed to have, Diana and Jasper had been settling for brief moments stolen from time.

Today, however, Diana had told her mother of a plan to take a walk and acquaint herself with the area a bit more, an excuse that would allow the two of them more than just a few hurried minutes.

This was the reason that Jasper now found himself on the way to Diana's house for what was certainly not the first time that week. He had left his house rather early in anticipation for their meeting, which is why he allowed himself to walk at a normal pace.

As Forks made it's a desperate attempt to reach spring, it's well-known blustery weather had been seeming to trying it's hardest to get it's last few hurrahs in before the seasonal change, resulting in the brisk night air of the night.

In his hand, Jasper held a steaming thermos that had been pressed into his hand by Esme, who insisted that the poor girl he was meeting would freeze to death without it.

Esme was nearly overjoyed at the fact that she now had not one, but _two_ new people to care for. Living, breathing people, who could eat or drink anything she could force upon them for the sake of hospitality.

Even though neither Bella or Diana had been to the Cullen house yet, Esme had already begun to actually bring food home from her grocery store trips, rather than just donating anything she had bought on the way home. She was adamant on stocking the house with various food items 'just in case'.

He was quite pleased with his mother's excitement over the two girls, as it made him feel much less hesitant to get Diana involved in the dangers of his world. If Esme believed that it was possible to protect them and have a normal, happy bond with them, then Jasper became a bit more confident of that, too.

Carlisle felt similarly, though he did stress the importance of caution, specifically with Jasper. In true Carlisle fashion, he considered the safety of everyone involved the highest importance. Mainly, though, it seemed that Carilsle was overjoyed that two of his sons had encountered happiness, despite the challenges that seemed to come along with it. After seeing Edward's loneliness for years, he was grateful that Bella could fill such a void with her companionship.

When it came to Jasper's case, Carlisle was simply happy that Diana seemed to take his mind off of the heavy topics that so often occupied it. Diana offered Jasper a chance to focus on something besides his own low tolerance when it came to humans, and she certainly brought him away from the feeling of self loathing that he seemed to fall victim to. Overall, Diana certainly seemed to complement his newest son quite well.

Jasper was close enough now that he was able to make out Diana's heartbeat, which seemed to pound so much louder than anyone else's. Though, he did wonder if that was because he was almost always focused on it quite intently.

He could also make out muffled voices now as his feet carried him closer and closer to the blue house, where it seemed that Mrs. Lansing was insisting that Diana bundled up, swearing that she could feel a storm on the way.

He couldn't quite fight a smile upon hearing Diana's attempts at escaping what he assumed was a barrage of countless layers on her way to the door.

Eventually, her success was evident as the front door of the home opened, warm light pooling into the dusky night as the young girl stepped out, only looking _slightly_ like a marshmallow.

He chuckled quietly at how generally _puffy_ she looked wrapped up in a thick winter coat and scarf, taking a moment to observe her from his spot in the treeline as she responded to her mother's insistences of caution and being home before too long, his affection evident from the grin on his face.

She took a moment to look both ways down the street, leaning forward slightly as if that would somehow better her vision. He watched as she produced a small flip phone from her pocket, checking the time.

Since meeting him, if Diana had learned anything about Jasper, it was that he was almost always punctual to a fault, save for a few uncharacteristic occurrences.

It was times like these that Diana most noticed the disadvantages of her humanity, wondering if he was already here with her, simply without her knowledge. With this in mind, she did as she usually did when she had that suspicion.

"Jasper?" Diana called out timidly, her voice hardly more than a whisper, knowing that he would be able to hear her anyways.

He took a moment before answering, marvelling not only at how sweetly his name seemed to fall from her lips, but also at the silvery mist that the warmth of her breath caused to dance in the air.

She straightened as Jasper stepped from the treeline, grinning slightly as Diana looked over her shoulder, making sure nobody in her family could see their meeting.

Once satisfied that they were alone, he was met with her wide smile.

"Hey"

His smile widened inexplicably, as it often did around her. He didn't really need much of a reason to smile around her, it just seemed natural, for lack of a better description.

"Hey."

Even such a simple interaction with her, no more than two words, just about put Jasper on cloud nine. He longed for these meetings with her, however brief they usually were. The fact that they would be able to linger together on this particular night seemed like a blessing.

"Did you have anything in particular planned for tonight?" Diana asked, rocking back on her heels slightly as she asked the question.

Jasper shrugged in response. "I figured we could just walk. We wouldn't want to lead your mother astray, now, would we?" He asked, a teasing glint in his eye.

Diana rolled her eyes in faux disbelief. "I'm pretty sure meeting up with an I-don't-even-know-how-old-man has already achieved that purpose."

Jasper laughed at her jest, enjoying how she was able to joke about his vampirism now that she had gotten over the initial shock of it all.

"Hey, it's not my fault that you've got a thing for older men," He quipped, raising his hands in self defense.

Diana laughed in response, the sort of laugh that held no inhibition or forced feeling, the kind that made her head tilt back slightly while her hand hovered over her stomach.

Diana couldn't help being a bit self conscious of her laugh when it came to Jasper, since she knew he was almost always surrounded by the laughter of his family, which could only be described as musical in comparison to her own voice.

What Diana was unaware of, however, was that he appreciated such a stark difference in the noises. He liked that he was able to draw out such genuine noise from the girl, able to make such a lovely smile take over her face entirely.

Even more than that, though, was how much he loved his ability to bring rosy color to her cheeks nearly effortlessly, such as he had just now. More often than not, any reference of the obvious attraction between the two caused her to flush in varying shades. Where it was only a subtle rouge now, he was sure that if wasn't quite the gentleman that he was, he could make the girl go scarlet in mere seconds with a few choice actions.

"Well then it's not my fault that you've aged like a fine wine, either."

He raised his brows, taken aback that she had allowed herself to be so bold in complementing him. Usually, she could be rather bashful when it came to such things.

Shaking his head fondly, he addressed her once more. "Are you too cold to be outside now?"

It was incredibly common for Jasper to ask such questions, always trying his hardest to consider the fact that Diana was quite vulnerable to the elements and just about anything else for that matter.

She shook her head, pulling her coat closer to her form "Im fine, this is pretty warm."

He nodded, pleased as he led her back into the treeline, walking side by side.

"Do you walk in the woods often?" Diana asked suddenly, breaking the brief silence.

Jasper looked at her questioningly, not quite sure where the question had come from.

"Only because we seem to do it together so much, I was just wondering if you've always done it this often."

"I suppose so," Jasper said as he looked upwards towards the treetops, leaving Diana to marvel at the way he didn't need to watch his footing like she did. "It's more or less the only place you can get peace and quiet with my family. Assuming that nobody follows you, that is. Other than that, though, it's one of the only places where it's not very likely I'll stumble across anyone."

He didn't have to verbalize the fact that he meant it was a sort of sanctuary from temptation.

"Is it very difficult for you to be around me?" Diana asked, unable to bridle her curiosity after hearing of the difficulty that came along with his vegetarian lifestyle so often. "I would feel horrible if I put you through so much strain."

The space between Jasper's brows creased as he registered her concern. "Oh, don't worry about that. It would be more of a strain to stay away from you, I assure you," He responded, taking the chance to wink teasingly at her, pleased at the reaction he could feel from her.

"Really, though, it's easier for me. You don't quite tempt me as much, which is good. I care for you too much to harm you even if that weren't the case, either way."

Diana considered on whether she should be flattered by his comments or a bit insulted that she wasn't overly appealing to him, and she couldn't quite help wrinkling her nose as she voiced the first question to come to mind.

"Do I smell or something?"

There was a brief silence before Jasper burst out laughing, stumbling despite his constant grace.

Diana couldn't help blushing as she crossed her arms, waiting for his outburst to subside.

Jasper collected himself after awhile, gasping for the air he didn't need.

"Darlin', I can assure you you smell fine. Better than fine, actually. I think it's just the whole mate thing making sure I won't accidentally hurt you in a moment of weakness."

"Oh," Diana said simply, quite flustered at how silly her question seemed now.

Jasper caught a firm elbow to the gut as he poorly disguised his lingering chuckles. It was much to Diana's displeasure that this didn't affect him in the slightest, her elbow colliding with his hard midriff certainly causing her more pain than it did him. Her frustration only increased tenfold when her traitorous conscious chose to focus on the firmness of his torso over anything else.

As she considered his response, her curiosity steadily heightened until Jasper could ignore it no longer.

"What do you want to know?"

Diana always marveled at the way Jasper seemed to always know what she was thinking without her having to say anything. She chose not to comment, too eager to better her understanding of Jasper's world.

"What does the whole mate thing even mean?"

Jasper tried his very hardest to find an appropriate way to word the bond, hoping that his description wouldn't intimidate her at all.

"Just the way you described soulmates, I suppose. I was made for you and you were made for me."

If vampires could blush, he certainly would have then, cursing himself for being so forward, the increase in Diana's heartbeat not escaping his sensitive hearing.

"But why though? Is it just a vampire thing?"

Jasper nodded, shoving a hand into the pockets of his blue jeans. "Yeah, a vampire thing. Carslisle says it's supposed to keep up grounded, you know? To keep us from being too destructive by giving us some sort of human emotion to hold on to. Without it, he thinks we would just get lost in a bloodlust."

Diana nodded, temporarily lost in the thought that a task as important as keeping a superhuman immortal in check was supposedly entrusted to her.

"And how do you know it's me?" She asked, praying that what he said was true and that it wasn't all some big mistake, praying that she really could be someone significant to someone like Jasper Hale.

"I know you felt it too," Jasper started, pinning Diana with a firm look. "When we first saw each other. _That's_ how I know."

I blushed at the memory of our first meeting, how I had hardly been able to tear my eyes from him or still my frantic heartbeat. I had felt attraction before, of course, but what I had felt for Jasper then was completely different, as nothing was holding me to the Earth besides the twist I felt in my chest while staring him.

Jasper smirked slightly at my blush, knowing where my mind had traveled. "See? I told you. You were more or less enthralled with me."

I could tell he was joking, looking for the reaction I couldn't help but give him as my cheeks heated further. "Excuse me? I was more concerned with the stranger whose eyes were boring into the side of my head for like, ten minutes straight."

He snorted, which Diana liked in an odd way, as it made him seem less ethereal and reminded her that he was one of the easiest people in the world for her to lose herself with.

"Yeah, right. You were concerned with the incredibly handsome stranger beside you that you could hardly bridle your uncontrollable desire for."

She was _almost_ ashamed at the embarrassingly accurate portrayal of her thought process that she would deny until the grave.

"I can see you spend the time that would have been dedicated to sleeping fantasizing"

He chuckled at her quick wit before remembering the warmth he felt in his hand that emanated from the thermos.

"Ah, I nearly forgot about this," Jasper said, handing the thermos to Diana, momentarily mourning the loss of warmth. "It's from my Mother, she's terribly excited to finally have someone to be hospitable to."

Diana smiled widely at the care shown my Jasper's adoptive Mother, overjoyed at the kind gesture. It reassured her greatly that not all of Jasper's family members seemed to be as objected to Jasper and Diana's circumstance as his twin was.

"I hope I didn't cool it down too much," Jasper said, gesturing to his hand.

Diana shook her head. "It's perfect, thank you."

As she felt the warmth of the thermos in her palms, she couldn't help but question more about Jasper.

"Can you feel it? Warmth, I mean."

Jasper nodded, humming in affirmation. "Yeah, I can. Layers and blankets can help marginally, or standing in the sun for a long while. But things like that make quite a difference."

Diana noticed the sort of wistful expression that took over his face when he spoke of feeling such warmth, the way he looked off a bit while his lips twisted ever so slightly.

"Do you miss feeling warm all the time?"

Jasper nodded without hesitation. "That's one of the larger things I remember enjoying immensely. I'm a Southerner, after all," He said, grinning at his own comment. "Emmett, too, he's from Tennessee. He can hardly brave the cold, either."

The girl beside him took the opportunity to slip her bare hand into his, only slightly taken aback by the chill that came along with the action.

Jasper started slightly, looking her way in surprise.

"Is that warm?" She asked, nodding to their joined hands.

He nodded, relishing in the feeling for a moment. "Quite. Your hands will be cold, soon, though."

Diana shrugged. "I'll put my gloves on once they do." She reassured him, patting her coat pocket that swelled with a pair of gloves with her free hand.

Jasper couldn't help but smile earnestly, touched by her willingness to share her warmth with him, even at her own discomfort. Rather than saying anything, he chose to squeeze her hand lightly, almost barely, unsure of his own strength in comparison to her fragility. It was something that he had seen his adoptive parents do countless times.

"So are all mates...you know," Diana trailed off, trying to find the proper way to word her question that wouldn't embarrass her too much. "Romantically involved?"

"I don't really think the term 'soulmate' applies to friendship, darlin," Jasper said, slightly amused at the suggestion. "But yes, any I've ever come across."

There was a brief silence as Diana absorbed Jasper's implication, that she and him, well that that he and her would undoubtedly become romantic with one another.

"Not that you have no choice in the matter," Jasper corrected quickly , sensing her conflicted emotions. "If you didn't want this-" He said, gesturing vaguely between the two of them, "Than I would never push you into it. I've never really heard of anyone voluntarily rejecting the connection, and it wouldn't be easy, but I would try it for you if you asked such a thing of me."

Jasper was earnest in this promise, despite the undeniable pain and suffering that would come along with trying to separate himself fully from the girl by his side, never wanting her to feel pressured into pursuing a connection with him.

The memory of the mere weeks in which Jasper had avoided her came flooding back all too strongly. She cringed internally at how difficult it had been to be apart for only weeks, and couldn't imagine now being separated from Jasper indefinitely.

"No, no, you don't have to do that," Diana said quickly, subconsciously tightening her grip on his hand as if she were fearful he'd disappear at any moment.

Jasper wasn't quite sure how he felt about her insistence that he stay here, with her. Most prominently, he was overjoyed at her acceptance of him, thrilled that she was even interested in furthering their connection. However, in the back of his mind, he felt awfully selfish for enjoying her choice this much, almost wishing that she would cast him away, ensuring that he could never do her any harm.

"Just know that the offer will always stand, regardless of my feelings towards you"

Diana felt her heart stuttered slightly, realizing that for the first time, Jasper had acknowledged having feelings for her. Sure, it had been suggested that they were _supposed_ to care for one another in that way, but neither of them had outright acknowledged that they already had.

Against her own will, her lips twisted into a smile poorly concealed by focusing on the ground in front of them, the dimple present only on her left cheek becoming pronounced, making Jasper's unbeating heart threaten to spill over with adoration.

He was almost sure he'd let his power slip slightly, seeing how she stiffened slightly, blushing most likely at the feeling of a sudden onslaught of affection.

He had been meaning to tell her of his ability for quite awhile now, but feared that it may be a bit _too_ weird for her to handle. Esme had been urging him to make sure she knew as soon as possible, stressing that his ability in particular would be something alarming to learn of suddenly after knowing each other for a long time.

He had spent some time thinking of this, fearing that once she found out, she may fear that any budding feelings of hers were simply fabricated by him. He had made up his mind that it would be best for her to find out sooner rather than later.

"Can I show you something, Diana?" He asked, pulling Diana from her thoughts on his casual declaration.

She nodded, not quite trusting her voice to not sound overly cheerful.

"Get on my back, we'll go faster," He said, turning away from her and squatting slightly as to make the climb easier for her.

Diana paled a bit, stepping backwards as the smile on her face faltered slightly.

"We can't just walk?"

"We could, but it'll take forever. Just get on"

"But, like...what if I'm heavy?"

Jasper returned to his full height, turning to me and squinting as if he was marveling at my aversion to logic for what was not the first time.

"You know that I could probably lift your truck with like, one hand, right?"

"Well, yeah, but I don't know-"

Diana didn't even have time to finish her sentence before Jasper moved much too fast for her to comprehend, lifting her by the back of her jean-clad thighs and setting her on his back.

Diana had decided that she had been wrapped around Jasper's torso far too many times lately when one took into account the motorcycle ride he had given her, and she was nearly certain that he enjoyed how flustered she became each time they found themselves in such a position far too much.

Despite this, she had no choice but to wrap her legs tightly around him, her arms clinging to his upper body, very consciously trying not to restrict the airflow she knew he didn't need in the first place.

"I'd recommend that you close your eyes, at least for the first few times."

She nodded slightly, tightening her grip around him, unaware that he could feel the pounding of her slightly fearful heart against his back so clearly that it could almost be his own. IT was almost comforting, feeling the warmth of her entire body against him, feeling a heartbeat reverberating against his body. If he closed his eyes, he could almost imagine that they were both his, that he wasn't an undying creature, but a normal nineteen year old once more.

As he began to run, he let himself slip into that fantasy further. How simple things could be if he hadn't been roaming the Earth for over a century, if he wasn't sickeningly drawn to harming the odd passerby. He could imagine the different path he would be on if he was like his Diana, a child of the eighties, how they may have met under normal circumstances, maybe gone on a few dates together, one day leading a normal life together, going through normal human experiences together before fading away as humans always did.

For the first time, he understood Rosalie, if only for a moment. He couldn't deny that the idea seemed appealing to say the least. After all, he was from a time where things like that were stressed heavily, where all most people wanted was a domestic life like that.

Part of him wondered how things would be if she were born in his time, if they had met before the complications that ended his life. He wondered if he'd of chased her, like he had done to many a girl in his youth, if her presence in his life would have stopped him from chasing the pride and glory that came along with joining the Confederacy, if everything he had gone through upon his death could have been avoided.

He hadn't been running anywhere in particular, rather just searching for some sort of place that would be comfortable to carry out a conversation. He settled on a setting Diana down atop a flat topped rock that they would be able to sit upon comfortably

He nearly laughed at the fact that her eyes were still squeezed shut, her hands seeming to cling to the stone below her palms for a sense of stability

"Are you alright?" Jasper asked, ever the gentleman despite his poorly concealed laughter in between each word.

"I hated that." She said simply, opening her eyes slowly, fighting off a wave of nausea.

"You'll learn to do better after a while"

"I can assure you, with confidence, that I am never getting on your back again"

Technically, you didn't even get on in the first place," He reminded her , sitting across from the girl as he stretched out his long legs in front of him.

She rolled her eyes at the sass that so often made itself present with Jasper. "Oh, bite me."

He quirked a brow, a grin taking over his lips at her unintended double meaning.

Her eyes widened in realization, a hand flying to cover the side of her neck. "Not actually"

He laughed, throwing his head back as she scooted away from him slightly, pinning him with an accusatory stare despite the grin that had overtaken her face, as well. It _was_ quite funny, she supposed.

She kicked his leg gently in a bid to silence his laughter, quieting her own snickering. "What did you want to show me?"

He moved closer to her, bracing himself for a negative reaction, just in case. "You trust me, don't you?"

She nodded slowly, confused at the sudden turn in conversation. "I thought that was pretty apparent already, since I've let you lure me into the woods quite a few times now"

"Well, yes, but you also know that I'd never use anything against you, right?"

She nodded once more, a bit apprehensive at his seriousness.

"Well, do you remember how Edward can read minds?"

He felt her anxiety spike almost instantly.

" _Please_ don't tell me you can read minds, Jasper," She said, her mind flying back to the innumerable times she thought about how handsome his face was, or how the tight shirts he wore complimented his physique marvelously, or the one time she stared when his shirt rode up upon reaching into his locker, or how she couldn't help her feelings for him, or how it was sort of hot that he rode a motorcycle, or that-

"No, I can't-"

Diana breathed a sigh of relief.

"- though I _really_ wish I could, based off of your reaction every time it's suggested. But I can't. Anyways, so some vampires have certain... _gifts."_

"Gifts?"

"It's mainly just some sort of attribute that's heightened from your human life. For example, Edward was extremely perceptive, so as a vampire, he can hear thoughts. Alice, on the other hand, must have had the gift of foresight, because now she can see the future quite clearly-"

"Wait. Alice can see the _future?"_

Jasper nodded. "There are limitations, but yes, she can. Where nobody besides the three of us are gifted, everyone else in my family has some sort of heightened attribute. Emmett was quite strong, so he's generally stronger than the rest of us. Rosalie was supposedly quite attractive, so now, she's considered beautiful, even in comparison with other vampires. Carslisle was extremely compassionate, which he carried on into this life, where he exercises amazing self control and empathy. He believes that nearly anyone deserves redemption, even people like me. Esme, lastly, was more loving than most, and can now see the good in everyone."

Diana took a moment to marvel at the new information before turning her attention to Jasper.

"So, you're gifted?"

He nodded, gauging her reaction for any hesitance or fear.

"How so?"

"Well, in my previous life, I was quite persuasive." He trailed off slightly, not quite wanting her to know the extent of his abnormality yet. "So I sort of, you know, maintain that now."

"How so?"

"Well, the way it works is that I could make you feel anything I wanted, if I so chose,"

 _Damn, it sounded even creepier than he had thought it would out loud._

"What do you mean?" She asked slowly, alarm slowly rolling off of her.

"Well, for example, you're a bit fearful of me right now, aren't you?"

She nodded, a slight anxiety present in her eyes.

"I can feel that emotion as if it were my own. If I wanted to, I could take it away completely or make it worse."

"Have you ever used it on me?"

He wasn't prepared for that question. His mouth opened to answer, before shutting quickly, not quite sure how to handle the situation gently.

"Oh my God, you have!" She said, aghast, moving further away from him, distrust clear in his eyes.

Jasper moved to defend himself quickly, bringing his hands up as if to shield himself from her reaction.

"Once! One time, and I can explain," He said quickly, words tumbling from his mouth freely. "I'll tell you exactly when. It was the day of your volleyball tryouts-"

"Oh my God, did you make me kiss you?" She asked, aghast

"No! No, I would never do that, you know that."

She seemed to agree with that fact, despite her current slight distrust towards him, he had always been gentlemanly towards her.

"When you were really nervous about it in history, I took it away and replaced it with confidence until the end of the day. Everything you have ever felt besides that was your own."

The suspicion in her eyes seemed to lessen, yet not die down completely.

"Do you promise me?"

"I swear to you, Diana."

She seemed to think a moment before responding. "So how do I know that all this is real?"

"All of what?" Jasper asked, his head tilting to the side slightly in confusion.

"Everything. How do I know that you haven't just picked me randomly and made the whole mate thing up, and that you're not just creating the feelings I have for you?"

"You have to trust me, Diana. Trust that I would sooner die before take advantage of you in any way."

She nodded, moving slowly back towards him.

"And anyways, it's not like mind control or anything. I can only affect your feelings, I could never directly force you to do or say anything. Also, you can be confident in that anything you've ever felt for me while I've been away is your own, as I can only change things while near you."

She didn't say anything, but seemed to menatally be going over everything she'd felt for the boy in front of her while not in his presence.

"Do you trust me?" He asked, hopeful that his gift wouldn't ruin the connection between them that had only seemed to have just started.

She nodded. "I trust you."

He reached for her hand slowly, not wanting to alarm her after his revelation. She allowed him to move closer, not pulling away when his larger hand came to rest over hers.

She stared at their hands for a few moments before she spoke once more.

"Can you show me?"

"Show you what, darlin'?"

"Your gift. I'd like to see for myself."

He gaped at her slightly, confused by her change in tune after her obvious concern for the situation only a moment ago.

"You want me to make you feel something?"

She nodded.

"You're sure?"

"Just something harmless, I want to know what it feels like."

He straightened across from her, focusing on the girl in front of him for any signs that she was changing her mind.

When she stayed resolute, he focused on her, steadily manipulating her feelings until a wide smile broke out across her lips, her eyes lighting up in delight at nothing in particular. He kept going, slowly as to not alarm her too greatly, making her giggle once, and then twice. Soon enough, she was laughing uninhibitedly at nothing at all, her hands clutching her side as the feeling of joy overtook her.

When she became teary eyed in between laughs, Jasper took away all of his influence, studying her reaction as she caught her breath.

"As creepy as it _could_ be, that's actually really cool," She said, wiping a tear from her eye. "Why did you choose to do that in particular?"

He shrugged. "Well, truthfully, I mostly just wanted to see your smile. Once I saw it, though, I liked it so much that I wanted to hear you laugh as well."

She blushed slightly at his masked compliment, a small smile gracing her lips despite the ache in her cheeks.

Before she had the chance to respond, the storm that had been threatening to break all night finally began, with large flakes of white snow beginning to fall from the sky.

At the sight, Diana smiled widely without Jasper's influence, watching as the first flakes reached the ground.

"I'd nearly forgotten how much you loved the snow," Jasper said, entranced by her joy at such a simple thing.

Diana nodded and began to explain why it was her favorite weather, but Jasper couldn't quite focus on anything but the steady reddening of the tip of her nose, the mist that escaped her mouth with each word spoken in between sips of the tea that Esme had made. He found it quite adorale when the falling snowflakes clustered in her dark hair, and was only pulled out of his thoughts by his name.

"Jasper?" Diana asked, looking at him quizzically as if it hadn't been the first time she'd called out to him.

"Hm?"

"I asked if you liked the snow"

"I'm afraid that the Texan in me considers it much too cold for enjoyment."

She chuckled, taking the chance to move from her spot on the rock to just beside him, pressing herself flush against him.

He felt that same feeling that he always seemed to at Diana's touch, the feeling that made his heart jump to his throat.

She must have sensed his confusion, as she explained herself as she let her head rest against his much higher shoulder.

"You said you liked warmth, so I figured I'd try my best to make you warm"

He smiled widely despite himself, his affection for the girl spiking once again.

"Move when you get too cold, okay?"

She nodded, even though she was quite certain that she'd stay beside him even against the threat of hypothermia.

"Does it bother you that I'm cold?" He asked after having sat with her for awhile.

"No, not really. I figure it'll be nice in the summertime," She said, chuckling as she nudged him in the ribs lightly.

"Well in that case, I'm glad that I'll be able to live up to your expectations of being a mobile air conditioner."

"If you get to use me as a furnace, I get to use you as an air conditioner"

He chuckled. "Fair trade, I suppose."

Peering over the edge of their perch, Diana was overjoyed at the fact that the snow was sticking.

"Jasper," She began, tugging on the sleeve of his jacket. "Let's make snow angels"

He quirked a brow. "Snow angels?"

She nodded, sliding off the side of the rock on which they sat, leaving him with no choice but to follow.

"But I'm actually warm," He complained, reveling in the warmth that was lingering in his body due to Diana's previous closeness.

"That's no excuse," She said, laying down on the now snow covered ground, gesturing beside her.

Jasper hesitated, sure that if word of this ever got out, his brothers would never let him hear the end of it.

He sighed, lowering himself down to the ground. He couldn't help but grin at Diana's glee.

"You're a witch," he teased, mourning the loss of warmth as he lowered himself into the snow.

"Coming from an actual vampire"

"I don't think I've done this since I was a kid. Even then, I only did it once when we traveled somewhere with light snow."

She wrinkled her nose, pausing her creation of her snow angel to look over at him.

"Only once?"

He shrugged, pausing his actions as well. "People didn't travel much in my time."

"Will you ever tell me how old you are?" She asked as he could feel her curiousity heighten.

"I think my sex appeal would take a serious hit if you knew."

"Bold of you to assume you have sex appeal, Jasper."

He smirked at her jest, finding it terribly funny that she was blissfully unaware of the things he knew she felt.

"I can feel _all_ sorts of feelings, Diana."

She furrowed a brow in confusion, turning her head to regard him as he continued.

"Like things that one may feel on a motorcycle ride, with their hands wrapped just a _bit_ too low on my-"

" _Jasper!"_ Diana cried, mortification clear on her face

He laughed wickedly, his hand covering his side.

"I just figured you should know what I know. Also, I feel rather sexualized when I'm just reaching into my locker and your mind seems to wander to-"

He was silenced by a sudden onslaught of snow aimed at his face, taking him by surprise.

Before Diana could even blink, Jasper had moved from his previous spot and was now just beside her, looming over her with a chastising expression.

"That was quite rude, you know."

She chuckled. "I refuse to take such abuse from someone who could be my Grandfather."

He grinned, leaning down and pressing a kiss against her forehead, smiling at her quickening heartbeat before trailing his ministrations down the side of her head.

"Darlin'," He started in between kisses to her skin, "I could be your Grandfather's Grandfather."

He enjoyed the way he could hear her quickening breath, not used to such amorous displays from Jasper just yet. He was surprised, however, when her hands came up to cup each side of his face, pulling him away from her.

"Won't you just tell me?' She asked, leaving Jasper to be struck at the effect the softness of her voice could have on him. He nearly thought he could resist her temptations until her hand moved from his jaw to his scalp, brushing his flaxen hair away from his face.

Closing his eyes at the intimate touch, it was nearly all he could do to hold back a pleasured sort of purr.

He turned his head, pressing his lips against the palm that remained caressing his face, mumbling into her hand.

"One hundred and sixty one"

He could feel the shock of the girl below him.

"What?"

"One hundred and sixty one. Nearly one hundred and sixty two," He said more clearly. "I told you it would be a shock."

When she seemed to regain her bearings, he was struck by her response. "Well, you're quite limber for a dinosaur of a man"

He couldn't help himself, as he was sure that he had never seen something as lovely as her with her hair strewn about in the snow, her cheeks pink with humor dancing in her green eyes. He couldn't help but lean down, capturing her lips in a slow kiss that made her heart flutter uncontrollably at the gentleness of the action, his lovely scent enveloping her.

He couldn't help but draw the kiss out, nearly forgetting her need for air beneath him. If one thing was certain, it was that Jasper Hale couldn't help but do it again and again until the girl who had teased him so was nothing but a mess of mussed hair and swollen lips.

 **A/N: Ah! Finally! Fluff! I hope everyone enjoyed!**


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: Hello everyone! It's been awhile, I've realized. I apologize for the gap between chapters, and hope everyone enjoys chapter twenty and enjoys the holidays!**

It had almost been a week since that evening in the snow, but Diana had held onto every detail of that night as if her life depended on it.

To some, a simple, innocent kiss that led to nothing more would seem trivial, even a childish thing to cherish so much. Despite this, she couldn't help but replay the moment in her mind religiously just about every chance she got. And how could she help it? Jasper, the most gorgeous person she'd ever seen, one of the only people who could make her laugh until her sides hurt, had kissed her. Not only kissed had he her, but he had _feelings_ for her. Jasper could have any woman in the world that he desired. Quite literally anyone. But he had feelings for her. Diana.

It was as if she was dreaming. This sort of thing had never happened to her, at least in her waking hours. One thing was certain. If this was a dream, she most certainly never wanted to wake up.

* * *

She and Jasper had fallen into a sort of morning routine. Seeing that her parents generally left for work before she went to school and Carter now took the bus (much to his disgust), Jasper now drove her to school each day, free of the prying eyes of her family.

He had seemed to actually want to spend that extra time with her, and she was finally relieved of the guilt of having Bella drive her to and from school each day, despite her insistence that she wasn't bothered by the slight detour.

The cold air that came along with winter time in Forks meant that Jasper's motorcycle had been temporarily retired in favor of a sleek black car, the brand unfamiliar to her. She was almost sure that this meant that the make was so high class that she wasn't even aware of its existence.

When she had last mentioned the change between vehicles, Jasper deflected the question by teasing her, accusing her of mourning the loss of his motorcycle only because of the opportunity it had provided to wrap herself around him without facing judgement.

Once, he had even gone as far as to tease her by saying motorcycle or not, she was welcome to do so any time the urge struck her.

That had earned him a firm smack on the arm, which, as always, hurt her much more than it did him.

Despite the fact that she was decidedly _not_ a morning person, the morning quickly became her favorite part of the day. She had taken to almost feverishly tending to her appearance in the mornings, reasoning that if she could never look as lovely as he did all the time, she could at least try her best to look decent when she he first saw her each day.

As was the case with every morning, she was hyper aware of the sound of his car rolling into her driveway, and was out the door before he had even had the chance to fully scale the stairs up to her porch.

His eyes lowered quickly to the leather bundle in her arms, recognizing it as his own as soon as he realized the scent of it wasn't human.

"A souvenir?" He asked, the corner of his mouth quirking upwards into one of those half smiles she couldn't help but love.

"I was going to return it." She corrected, grinning at how easily they fell into conversation.

"You wound me," He responded, a hand covering his chest in mock offense, "So eager to be rid of me, all the time."

Even funnier than his reaction was how wrong his statement was. He often had to remind Diana of any prior engagements she had, as she found herself getting lost in his presence quite often.

"Really, though, you can keep it," He said. "I'm sure it looks much better on you, anyways."

"I think you need to make your compliments more realistic," She joked, having no doubt in her mind that she could never and would never be able to surpass Jasper in terms of appearance. "And really?"

"And you need to learn that they _are_ realistic. And yes, really. I've worked up a pretty extensive collection of them over the years, so it's a pretty inconsequential sacrifice to make for your health." He said, gesturing to the snow blanketing the world around them.

"I'm not _that_ frail." She insisted. Jasper had been trying to get to know the limitations of humans better recently, and always seemed to err on the side of caution, generally disregarding her instances of being less fragile than he thought. "And thank you."

"Are you sure _you_ aren't the vampire here?" he asked as she shut the front door behind her, referencing her uncanny ability to realize his arrival before he had the chance to make himself known.

"I'm pretty sure. It would be pretty boring for a vampire to have been born in nineteen eighty-seven, though."

Just as she was about to step down the snow-covered stairs, Jasper surprised her by lifting her with one arm, pulling her front side flush to his hip as he lifted her over the stairs, which were fairly hazardous to her in his mind.

Flushing at the sudden close proximity that she wasn't quite prepared for, Diana nearly stuttered on her own words, still shaken by the fact that he could absentmindedly lift her with one arm without a hint of strain.

"I've survived this long, you know. I don't think an icy patch would be the end of me."

"With your luck, I'd prefer not to take the chance."

She couldn't really argue with that, though she would certainly try. Before she had the chance, though, Jasper spoke again as he set her down, a grimace clear on his face.

"Nineteen eight-seven, my God," He groaned in complaint. "You're a child. A literal infant. You were born about fifteen minutes ago, in my mind."

"If I'm an infant, wouldn't that make you a pedophile?" Diana questioned, quirking a brow, grinning at the suggestion that he was sure to dislike.

Sure enough, his grimace deepened as his hands quickly rose to cover his ears.

"I really try my best not to think of it like that." He said, disgust clear on his face as he opened the passenger side door for her.

He was within his own seat within an instant, something Diana wasn't sure she'd ever get used to.

"Eh, it's not so bad, anyways," She started, laughing at his discomfort. "What's the age difference, anyways? One hundred thirty something?"

"One hundred forty three years," He replied without missing a beat.

"Wow, you've really considered this," She said, impressed at his quick response.

"Haven't you?" He said simply as they left her driveway.

"Fair point. Though definitely not as extensively as you have."

"Well, I do have about twelve extra hours of free time in comparison to you."

There was a moment of silence as Jasper seemed pensive. "Does it bother you? Me being so old, I mean."

She had thought this over before, but had always come to the same conclusion. "I mean, its something, you know, _different_ , but so is all of this," She said, gesturing between the two of them. "And besides, neither of us can really help when we were born, can we?"

He hummed in agreement, being impressed by her acceptance of him for what was not the first time.

"I do have a question, though."

"Anything you'd like to know, I'll answer."

He said this rather often, though he always prayed that she would not ask anything of a particularly sensitive topic. Despite her acceptance of him, he still feared her knowing the full extent of his difficulty maintaining his diet, or knowing how he spent his early years of vampirism. He knew that she'd find out eventually, one way or another, but the longer she wasn't disgusted by him was ideal in his mind.

He selfishly wanted to maintain a certain image to her, one that she could trust and even grow to care for. He feared that if she knew everything about him, the soft spot she seemed to have for him at the insistence of the of their bond would diminish.

Much to his gratitude, her question was simple. "When you turn into a vampire, do you keep growing until you're mature? Or like, say if you were like, ten when you were turned, would you stay that age?"

"When turned, you're frozen instantly in that moment. The only changes you'll go through is the obvious general transformation, and then you're sort of perfected."

"Perfected?"

"You're made into something other than human, in a way. It's meant to make you more alluring so that you can-"

He spared a glance at her, realizing the disturbing nature of the reason for the physical change.

"Well, you know. Draw people in easily. It happens as you die, though, so it was a rather jarring thing to wake up to. "

His words left her to her imagination, but she understood well enough that it was a sort of predatory advantage. More than that, though, she was set on edge by his casual reference of his own death. She knew that he wasn't alive, per se, and realized that he had to have stopped living in order to become a vampire, but she had never really considered it so literally.

Jasper, the man who had made such a significant difference in her life, who she'd grown increasingly fond of, as much as she teasingly denied it. The thought of Jasper having a heartbeat that ceased, the thought of his once warm skin growing cold, the thought of his bright eyes dimming in death brought a distinct pain to her chest that nearly knocked the air from her lungs.

She reached over, pulling his right hand from the steering wheel clutching in with her own, uninhibited by any sort of bashfulness that usually affected her.

Jasper was surprised by her bluntness, furrowing his brows when he felt the change in her aura.

"What's wrong?" He asked worriedly, sparing a quick glance at their joined hands, which now rested atop her leg.

"I mean, I guess a part of me knew you had to die to be here now, but, thinking about it, I-"

Her voice died out as she simply shook her head, her jaw clenched at the thought. She held his hand tighter, as if she could protect him from a past that had already happened.

He couldn't help but smile slightly, touched that she seemed to care for him enough to be so bothered by something she couldn't change.

"Hey," He called softly, turning to look at her fully.

He wasn't quite able to go on, though, as she stiffened, looking wide eyed at the road, her grip on his hand increasing significantly, her knuckles going white.

Her voice came out in a low stutter, and he was almost sure that she was clutching his hand with all of her strength.

"J-Jasper, look at the road please-"

"Vampires don't really need to pay attention while driving, you know. I could do this with my eyes closed."

Not feeling her reaction change and noting her unblinking gaze on the road, he shrugged before returning his attention to driving. He knew that humans were supposed to be jumpy about that sort of thing, but he figured that she'd trust his heightened instincts at this point.

He brushed it off as he felt her relax, though her heart still thrummed a little quicker than it normally tended to.

"Well, as I was saying, dying doesn't seem so bad these days. If I hadn't when I did, I wouldn't have been able to meet you." He winked at her, which was something that usually drew a laugh from her. He had hoped it would pull her from the brief fear she'd experienced as his attention strayed from the road.

He was successful, as she couldn't quite help but grin at his cheesiness.

"Can I ask something else?"

He hummed in affirmation, glad that he'd been able to bring her attention back.

"How did you die?"

Even she could feel the tension in the car shift. Jasper seemed to pause, unmoving for a time. He wasn't sure if he was fully ready to go into his entire past with her yet. He wanted nothing more than to spend more time with her like this, where he didn't have to relive the years of misery he'd spent purposeless. More than that, he didn't want to see her outlook on him change so quickly. He didn't want to see her growing feelings towards him be snuffed out by the knowledge of his extensive sins.

"You don't have to tell me." Diana interrupted his thoughts. "You know, if it's upsetting."

"No, it's alright," He said, his attention now overly focused on the road in front of him as he considered how to word things without delving too deep in the early years of his life.

"It's a little difficult to explain," he began. "Everyone in my family, except for Carlisle, was turned only in order to save their lives. Well, we don't know about Alice, to be fair. She can't quite remember anything prior to waking up a vampire. But everyone else, they were all changed at the last possible moment, after every other option was exhausted."

From his peripheral, he could see her aptly paying attention, lingering onto his every word. Where Jasper would answer most of her general questions, it wasn't often that she got a glimpse into something that was so personal to him.

"Everyone except for me, I suppose. It was eighteen sixty-three, if I remember correctly. So I was nineteen at the time when I was-" he tested out the proper terms in his mind before finishing his sentence. "Well, murdered, I suppose."

Diana's eyes widened as she subconsciously held his cool hand tighter. "Murdered?"

"I mean, it certainly wasn't to benefit me," He said, and for the first time ever, Diana could detect a sort of bitterness in his voice. "I was simply present at an inopportune moment, I suppose. She just felt like it."

As she saw the tension within his jaw, she saw a side of Jasper she'd scarcely seen before. He was still Jasper, yes, the same wise-cracking vampire that had been by her side for the past few months, but there was something different. If she looked close enough, she thought she could almost see some sort of vulnerability. Such a thing seemed nearly impossible, though. Jasper had a nearly constant calm appearance, something she had only seen slip in Port Angeles and during the accident the previous month.

"Was it...painful?" She didn't want to push him to speak of things he didn't want to, but the questioned slipped out almost without her permission.

"Excruciating. More so than you could imagine."

Without even considering, she raised his hand to her lips, placing a tender kiss on his cool skin. The tension he had been inadvertently radiating throughout the car seemed to ebb away, replaced by his surprise at her sudden, uncharacteristic display of affection.

His staggered expression gave way to a warmer, more tender expression that made her cheeks warm as she cleared her throat, diverting her gaze from his, staggered by the genuine fondness behind his eyes.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you."

Jasper chuckled as she focused on the glove compartment in front of her, her eyes refusing to shift in embarrassment of her own boldness and the softness within his face. Her cheeks had steadily gained color until he couldn't even pretend to not be entertained by it.

"You didn't. I just wish that you'd never had to go through that."

"It wasn't...a good time, but like I said, it brought me to you, so maybe it was for the best."

She knew that something as easy as that shouldn't have made her stomach flutter in the way it did, but she couldn't quite help it. She was almost sure that he did these things on purpose, especially when she saw his poorly concealed grin.

"You're evil, you know."

He couldn't help but agree sometimes, though in a more serious way than she meant it. That idea hardly had time to resonate in his mind though, since Diana offered the most exquisite distractions from such things. Before he could get lost in dark thoughts, her warm voice always broke through the shadowy corners of his mind that threatened his consciousness.

The best part about that, in his mind, was that she didn't even realize it. His family often did the same things, but she didn't consciously save him from his inner musings. It was just her. The way she naturally seemed to suit him perfectly in every way still floored him sometimes. He wondered if she wondered why things were so easy between them, if she hadn't realized yet that they were intentionally perfectly tailored to each other.

"And how is that?" He asked, playfully avoiding her gaze.

"You plan out the things you say just to get a rise out of me, don't deny it."

"Have you considered that you're just so enamored with me that I needn't even try to fluster you?" He often liked to blatantly tease her in such ways, watching the signs of her nervousness increase tenfold. "Either way, you've no evidence for your point."

"Your smugness is all the evidence I need. Also, _Needn't?_ Your inner old man is coming out."

"While we're on the topic," He began as they entered the Forks High school parking lot, "If I'm creepy for my feelings towards you, then you may be even creepier for your feelings towards someone who, well, someone who isn't quite _alive_ , per se."

She wrinkled her nose in disgust, dramatically pretending to gag. "I do _not_ consider you in that way."

"I _do_ hit all the major checkpoints, you know. No heartbeat, no blood flow, cold…"

"Wait, your heart doesn't beat?"

"Not the last time I checked, no."

She disentangled their hands, splaying her palm against his chest.

"You know, you seem to find ways to touch me inappropriately quite often. You really can just ask me to-"

"You really don't." She remarked, wishing she could keep her hand in place for only a moment longer without proving his constant teasing correct.

"Not since nineteen," he said as he effortlessly backed into his usual parking spot, not even bothering to look back as he did so.

"And no blood?" She questioned as she climbed from her seat, earning a disapproving look from Jasper for not waiting for him to open the passenger side door for her.

He shook his head as he was instantly by her side. Jasper usually arrived at her house early, ensuring that they would be able to get to school significantly before anyone else, allowing them a little more time alone. As he reached for her hand, she was taken aback by the fact that it was radiating warmth.

"How are you warm?" She asked, incredulously.

"Heated steering wheels save lives," He said simply with a grin before answering her previous question as he lead her to their favorite spot on campus. "And no, no blood."

"But you've said before that you can be injured, so how does that work?"

"Remember that time you told me I felt like marble? Its like that. We can chip or break entirely, but we can heal very quickly. Just last month, for example, I accidentally, well-" He seemed to try his best to phrase his next sentence, though he failed miserably. " _Detached_ Emmett's arm from his body. Accidentally."

" _You ripped his arm off?"_

"Accidentally!"

"How on earth did you do that?"

"Have I stressed that it was accidentally? And it was for good reason!"

"If it was for good reason, that doesn't sound like you did it accidentally." She accused as she sat down on the large root of the tree that she and Jasper had first shared lunch under all those weeks ago.

"It was for both, let me explain. In a way, you're to blame as well."

"Me? I've never ripped anyone's arm off before."

"Well, not literally, but you were involved. Remember that jumping in front of a haywire vehicle stunt you pulled?"

She cringed at his chastising tone. "It's a little blurry, actually. I'd blame it on the head trauma."

He sighed, a hand reaching up to massage his forehead at the pure stress the girl beside him had put him through. He sat beside her as he explained further.

"Yes, well that. He'd grabbed me to make sure that I wouldn't run to you, because if you or Bella had started bleeding, well, you know. He was right to do so, but in my panic, his arm just sort've-" He trailed off, making a vague snapping motion with his hands.

"Oh." She said simply, not quite sure of what to say. She was taken aback, in a way, that he had put himself under so much strain at the prospect of her being in danger. "I guess it's lucky that nobody had stopped Edward, then."

"Rosalie tried, actually. He's quite resistant to the scent of blood, but we still aren't meant to make a spectacle of ourselves. I am extremely thankful that he managed to slip past her, though, for obvious reasons." He said, gently grabbing her leg nearer to him and draping it over his knee comfortably.

"I'm sure she regrets him slipping past her," She said, not having missed the lingering glares Jasper's twin had sent her in the hallway anytime they'd crossed paths.

Alice had never been anything but overly kind to her, and Edward maintained polite conversation with her whenever she ended up inadvertently third wheeling with him and Bella. Even Jasper's more intimidating brother, Emmett, who she'd never spoken to, would occasionally acknowledge her existence with a nod whenever they happened to meet eyes.

"Hm. Maybe so," Jasper said, considering the possibility of that statement. "She'll warm up to you eventually. Probably."

His tone didn't instill much confidence within her.

"Even so, I think I care for you enough to make up for her."

"Oh?" She said, surprised at his sudden flirtation.

"I'm quite sure, actually," He hummed, leaning in and kissing her upon the lips. Things were different this time, she was able to see his advancement towards her, her breath escaping her before he had even come too close. The kiss he gave was not quite so feverish as the last time, but slow and gentle. There seemed to be a somehow increased sense of meeting behind it, and she couldn't tell if it was his ability or her own self that sent a spike of adoration through her chest. It had taken her to get past a moment frozen in order to reciprocate, her lips moving cautiously against his as she leaned closer, a task made easier by her leg having been casually placed over his.

He pulled away in what was far too soon in her opinion, and couldn't help but chuckle at her dazed expression. She could feel that her face had become hotter than it probably ever had.

"I've never heard it move so quick," He said, amused as he gingerly tapped over her heart. "Had your boyfriend never kissed you like that before?"

"I've never had a boyfriend, actually." She said simply, not quite trusting her voice to say more.

"No? Why's that?" He asked, taken aback by her confession.

Even had he not thought she was the most gorgeous girl he'd ever seen because of their bond, he definitely would have considered her attractive either way. He'd felt the raging hormones of teenaged boys each time he had gone through high school, and found it hard to believe that nobody had eagerly snatched her up.

"The chance never arose, I suppose." She said. Truthfully, she had never really gotten into the dating scene after her sister's death, or the social scene in general. It wasn't a lie, in all technicalities, so she hoped Jasper wouldn't sense her only partial answer.

"I find that rather hard to believe. Well, either way, you'd never been kissed that way by a non-boyfriend?"

As embarrassing as the confession seemed, she thought it rather endearing that Jasper doubted that she was quite literally untouched in any sense of the term.

"I've only ever been kissed in the way I was on- Sunday, was it?"

After only a slight moment of consideration, his eyes went wide as saucers as he understood what she was saying.

"That was-? Your first? Ever?"

"Mhm," she began, nodding. "Well once, in the seventh grade, Chris Thompson tried to kiss me at my birthday party, but I slapped him before he got the chance. To this day, that was the only time I ever got grounded. My parents said that they were only disappointed at how violently I chose to stop him, though I think my Dad was secretly proud."

She was interrupted by the sound of Jasper groaning, his head in his hands. She blushed in embarrassment, realizing that maybe she shouldn't have so willingly told him about her lack of male attention in the past. He must have felt that embarrassment, though, as he waved a hand towards her.

"No, no it's not that," He said, straightening from his position. "A part of me is actually sort of selfishly glad in a way."

That was an understatement. He was actually immensely pleased that no other man had had the opportunity to have her as his, but he wasn't going to admit to that right now. He couldn't quite believe her inexperience, not only because of how beautiful he thought she was. Times were different now than they had been in his heyday, and relationships were much more... _advanced_. He had even wondered if she had fully, truly been with another man in the past, but had never expected the extent of her inexperience.

"I was just so... _brutish_ about it. I'm afraid I let my own desire get in the way of acting like a proper gentleman. If I had known it was all your first...well _everything_ , I would have acted with much more caution, so I apologize for that."

She was quite surprised at his apology, as she thought that it was quite obvious that she'd enjoyed herself immensely both times he had kissed her.

"There's no need to apologize, Jasper. I mean, I- you know, definitely didn't mind."

He couldn't help but chuckle. "Things are so different from my time, I even assumed that you might have, well, you know. That there was a possibility that you were quite experienced."

Unfortunately she didn't know. Jasper's chivalrous manner forced him to speak of such things extremely vaguely in her presence. Where he certainly wasn't shy in teasing her, he figured that a true discussion of such things was different.

It took Diana a moment to draw a meaning from his suggesting eyes, but when she did, her eyes widened.

"Oh! Oh God, no, I haven't, you know, that hasn't-"

How the _hell_ had she ended up on the subject of virginity with Jasper? She couldn't close the topic fast enough, in her opinion

Thankfully, he simply nodded in understanding as she breathed a sigh of relief. She had been praying that she wouldn't be forced to form a coherent sentence on the topic.

"Huh." Jasper truly seemed to struggle to grapple with the idea as he held his jaw. "Have you been on a date before?"

Diana took a moment to consider this question, but concluded that a movie with a group of friends and a guy she had liked in freshman year didn't really count, as much as she had wished that it did at age fourteen.

"No, I guess I haven't." The level of surprise Jasper showed nearly made her self conscious at her own inexperience, as he most certainly thought of her as an absolute child with this new information.

His hand ran through his blonde hair as he spoke. "Oh dear, I've truly been trying my very hardest to tarnish your honor, haven't I?"

Before she had the chance to assure him that her honor was far from tarnished by the standards of this decade, he spoke again.

"Well, I'll have to remedy that."

The girl beside him quirked a brow in surprise.

"Well, I had figured that you'd grown accustomed to the dating standards of this age, but now...I want to court you properly. I mean, that was my intention before anyways, but now it seems all the more important."

"Court me?"

He nodded. "I intend to show you how a lady is meant to be treated, by my standards, anyways. And maybe I can convince you that I'm not so much of a barbarian as I'd led you to believe."

She laughed, not even bothering to remind him that she'd never thought that in the first place.

"And what exactly might that entail?"

He turned his head as he heard the warning bell before first period toll, before turning to Diana and offering his arm, much more dramatically than was necessary.

"Well, you're just going to have to wait and see, aren't you, darlin'?"

 **A/N: I hope everyone enjoyed! And remember to leave a review!**


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